


How Times Change

by 10Blue10



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Divergent Timelines, Gen, Race To The Edge, Redemption, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 57,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23714866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10Blue10/pseuds/10Blue10
Summary: (A sequel to 'Sanctuary' by Sarahenany) After Viggo is rescued instead of being left to sacrifice himself, the riders begin to nurse him back to health and Hiccup offers him a place on Dragon's Edge. Viggo accepts, but now has to earn the trust of Astrid and Snotlout, as well as help defeat his former allies and deal with his newfound guilt, as well as coming to terms with the true reason for his interest in Hiccup.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson, Snotlout Jorgenson/Minden, Viggo Grimborn & Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Comments: 54
Kudos: 76





	1. Recovery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MassiveHTTYDFan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveHTTYDFan/gifts).



Darkness… _Ryker_ … Silence… _Shellfire_...Darkness... _Dragon_ _Eye_ …Silence… _Lava_ … **Pain**. Viggo jerked awake with a gasp, clutching at his scarred face. Panting, trembling a bit, he gradually took stock of his surroundings. He was in his…former enemy’s hut, on Dragon’s Edge, with the Skrill who had apparently taken an inexplicable liking to him curled up behind the bed.

Green eyes flashed in the dark as Toothless glanced at him silently. The Night Fury was clearly on watch, ears pricked. He gave a discreet purr and nuzzled the young man curled up under his wing. Viggo could tell that at the first sign of danger, Toothless would react and defend his rider before Hiccup had even opened his eyes. He’d defend Hiccup from Viggo, if he had to. The thought made him swallow. _He won’t have to. I gave my word._

He’d gone from seeing Hiccup as a new playing piece, an inexperienced opponent to toy with…to a genuine rival and threat to his business…to an ally out of necessity. If he was being completely honest with himself, it started before Johann ordered that cave in. He’d heard Hiccup yell his name when he fell into the volcano. After he’d just threatened the boy’s lover to force compliance, Hiccup had still tried to save his life, to help –

He shook his head. That was in the past. _I’m not that man…I don’t have to be that man anymore_ , Viggo decided. Hiccup had decided to trust him – for reasons he still couldn’t fathom – and he found he actually wanted to rise to the challenge of earning that trust. From Hiccup _and_ his friends.

* * *

The following morning, Hiccup and Toothless were gone when Viggo woke up again. Moonlight was awake; she saw his eyes blink open, and purred. “Nightwing-Queen and Human-Queen getting breakfast,” she explained. Viggo’s stomach rumbled; he was starving and had not even realised. He took a deep breath and tried to sit up. A jolt of agony lanced through his muscles and he groaned, gritting his teeth against it.

“Willowbark needs rest” Moonlight insisted. “You not-move” she admonished.

Pushing aside how bizarre it was to be scolded by a dragon, he looked up at her. “Viggo,” he murmured, for lack of anything else to say. “My name is Viggo Grimborn.”

The Skrill rolled her eyes. “I know. Willowbark nickname. Name for friend” she chirped. “Dragons give humans nicknames. Toothless-Queen call Hiccup-Queen” -

“Don’t you dare!” Toothless interrupted, snarling. Behind him was Hiccup, carrying a bowl of broth on a tray, and Fishlegs with bottles of medicine. “Who told you?”

“Calm down, bud” Hiccup soothed, “She probably just heard you say it in passing once. There’s fish out on the landing for you” he told Moonlight, who eagerly bounded over to the door. Hiccup walked over to Viggo and set the tray down, before helping the man sit up. “Good morning. Sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up” he remarked.

Viggo replied, “It’s fine. Thank you. Is...something amiss?” he wondered curiously.

“No, it’s just that Toothless has a nickname for me, but it’s our special secret. The other dragons know what it is but they don’t use it or translate it into Dragonese.”

Fishlegs came over with the medicine, claiming it would work better on an empty stomach. “You just need to wait an hour or so for it to take effect” he explained.

Viggo felt a bit disappointed; he was hungry. “But the broth will be cold by then.”

Hiccup grinned. “No, it won’t. See that?” he asked, pointing. Viggo looked closer, and saw that the bowl was sitting on some kind of padded disc. “It’s one of my inventions; I call it a dish heater. The disc is filled with Nightmare gel that you set alight, and the fabric keeps the heat from burning whatever is touching it. Like a plate. Or fingers.”

“Very clever” Viggo complimented, genuinely impressed. Hiccup’s ingenuity was something to be admired, no doubt. “How did you come up with the idea?”

“It was actually kind of Tuffnut’s idea, believe it or not” Hiccup shrugged. “He mentioned in passing how nice it would be if we could keep food warm without having to heat it up again. Cos during the migration period we kept having to interrupt dinner and herd the wild dragons away from hunters - err, no offence” he said awkwardly.

Viggo just shrugged lightly, mindful of his injuries. “None taken” he murmured.

“Yeah...well, it’s not much fun to come back to cold meals, hence the dish heater” Hiccup went on. His brow furrowed a bit. “You’re probably starving though...Fishlegs, are you sure he has to wait that long? Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it so soon…”

Viggo had long since learned to keep his face blank, but Hiccup really did wear his heart on his sleeve. The boy felt bad for putting a temptation that Viggo couldn’t have just yet, right in front of him. A quick glance at Fishlegs confirmed that he too was mentally berating himself for not considering the problem, or bringing the medicine sooner. Viggo read both young men like an open book, and gave a light chuckle.

“Oh, Hiccup” he snickered. “I appreciate the concern, really, but it’s no big deal.”

“You sure?”

“I used to be at sea most of the time, and rations weren’t always... plentiful. Suffice to say I’m no stranger to having to go hungry. Besides, I’d rather be hungry than sick.”

“Fair point” Hiccup conceded. “D’you think you could handle having something on your lap?” he asked, perking up a bit. Viggo considered it, and gave a nod. “Okay, good. Hang on, I’ll be right back.” With that, he hurried out of the hut and vaulted onto Toothless’ back, taking off. Viggo raised an eyebrow at Fishlegs, who shrugged.

It didn’t take long for Hiccup to return, carrying a square wooden case. He set it carefully on Viggo’s lap, using a spare pillow to cushion it, and took the lid off.

“I figured we could play a game or two whilst you’re waiting” Hiccup explained. Viggo looked down at the Maces and Talons board, up at Hiccup’s earnest face, and down at the board again. He felt strangely…touched? Was that the word? At last his consternation must have been visible, because Hiccup asked “Are you okay?”

Viggo blinked. “I...yes, I’m fine” he answered. “It’s just...I wasn’t expecting this.”

Hiccup shrugged. “I just remembered it was in the clubhouse, and I figured you’d” -

“No, not the game” he elaborated, “I mean...you’re putting the same thought and, dare I say, fervour into helping me as you did into defeating me” Viggo pointed out.

“Uh...I guess?” Hiccup said, bewildered. “You saved my life, it’s the least I could do.”

There was...a disconcertingly soft smile on Viggo’s face as he idly rolled a piece in his fingers. It looked almost fond. “You are a remarkable young man, Hiccup.”

Hiccup wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Um, thanks...so, you want a game?”

“I’d be honoured,” Viggo answered. He’d desired an opportunity to play Maces and Talons - the game itself, not in real life - with Hiccup for ages. It would be a good way to get his measure, more than Viggo already had, by seeing what tactics he used.

They set the game up and began to play. At first, Viggo simply tested the waters, making moves that were easy for Hiccup to counteract. Then he started trying to push his opponent into a corner, and force him to make a sacrifice. Hiccup instead kept dodging and retreating, in an attempt to protect all of his pieces. He couldn’t do so forever, and pretty soon Viggo managed to capture his chief, winning the game.

“I have to admit, you lasted much longer than I thought you would,” the older man teased. “You know, you could have beat me if you’d just sacrificed a few pawns.”

Hiccup frowned at the board. “I thought...I was trying to do it without having to.”

Curious, Viggo asked “But why? I can understand your aversion to sacrificing real people, but this is just a board game. It’s not like the figurines would be _upset_.”

“I know that” Hiccup rolled his eyes, “it’s just...the game is supposed to be about practicing battle tactics, right? I always used it as a way to test my tactics. The more pieces - or people - I can save, the better” he explained. Then he sighed. “You probably think that’s stupid, though.”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I do,” Viggo freely admitted. “Your intentions are noble, but you’re also being ridiculously naive. It’s a fact of life, and the game itself, that you can’t save everyone. Trying to protect one person could endanger many more lives.”

Hiccup scowled a bit, refusing to look Viggo in the eye. “You sound like my dad.”

“Stoick has the right idea, then. I assume it was he who taught you to play?”

“I kinda taught myself,” Hiccup shrugged. He met Viggo’s gaze and declared, “I’m not as naive as you think. I know that I can’t save everyone, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. Especially when they’re my own allies. What sort of leader would I be...what sort of _person_ would I be if I sent them to their deaths for my sake?” he demanded. “Or didn’t protect them because it was a - a tactical error” he scoffed.

 _Well, that escalated quickly_ Viggo observed. Though he should have known the boy would get so worked up over it. Hiccup took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’d rather lose a battle and keep those I care about alive, than win and lose them doing so” he tried to explain. “I’m not like you, Viggo. I don’t see people as game pieces.”

“No, but you appear to see game pieces as people” Viggo countered. “Hiccup, you do understand that if you lost a battle - or worse, the war - your friends would die anyway?” he challenged. “Krogan and Johann will not be merciful if they succeed. You would be spared, because your status as heir makes you perfect to hold for ransom, but everyone else? Dead at worst or enslaved at least. So you must win.”

Hiccup’s hands were clenched into fists, his jaw tight. Before he could answer, Astrid hurried in. “Hiccup! There are hunter ships out in the eastern straits” she reported.

“I’m coming” he replied, standing up. “You can probably have the broth now,” he told Viggo, “just send Moonlight for Fishlegs if you need anything.” With that he strode out the door, Toothless padding after him. Astrid shot Viggo a suspicious glance before following. Clearly she could tell he’d upset her boyfriend, but it wasn’t his fault Hiccup was such a bleeding heart, now was it? Viggo sighed when they’d both left him alone.

Well. Aside from Moonlight. “Hiccup foolish” she hissed. “Viggo only trying to help.”

Viggo looked down at the game board...then put it aside and picked up the broth.

* * *

Later, Fishlegs came to check up on his unlikely patient. He didn’t expect to find Viggo out of bed, holding onto the Skrill as he tried to walk across the room. “What are you doing?” he protested, “you’re not supposed to be exerting yourself yet!”

“I’m...not” Viggo replied, voice strained. “Moonlight’s taking most of my weight.”

“Human not heavy” she purred smugly, before telling Fishlegs, “Viggo is bored.”

Shaking his head, Fishlegs insisted “You still need to rest. In case you’d forgotten, you got skewered with arrows. They tore muscles in your back, and if you don’t let yourself heal properly the damage could end up being permanent” he lectured.

“Duly noted,” Viggo remarked, before trying to take another step. He groaned in pain. Fishlegs gave him a pointed look and he sighed, conceding defeat. “Oh, very well. I’ll sit down again, but I really am bored, Fishlegs. My game partner is otherwise engaged at the moment” Viggo quipped, gesturing to the Maces and Talons board. “I don’t suppose you fancy a game?” he asked hopefully. “I’d go easy on you. Promise.”

“It’s not really my thing” Fishlegs admitted, going over to the desk. “But if you’re bored, I have an idea. I’m sure Hiccup has some spare paper...aha!” He straightened with a sheath of parchment in his hand. “You can start designing your own hut.”

Moonlight helped Viggo back to the bed, and Fishlegs brought over the paper. “The design can be as elaborate as you want” he said, giving the man a pencil. “Within reason, obviously. But if you make it higher than Snotlout’s I’ll be impressed.”

Twirling the pencil in his fingers, Viggo remarked lightly, “I’m sure I’ll come up with something. I’m assuming I can make it defensible?” he inquired. Fishlegs nodded.

“I’ll just be over here if you need me” he told Viggo, gesturing to the desk. He sat down and opened a book. Meatlug stayed near the door, keeping watch. Viggo started trying to sketch out a design, but he couldn’t focus. His mind kept drifting back to the argument with Hiccup. At last, he gave up and put the charcoal pencil down.

“Fishlegs, may I ask you something?” he inquired, looking up at the young healer.

“Huh? Oh, sure. What’s on your mind?”

“This war, against Johann” Viggo began, gathering his thoughts. “You all know the risks. You know you could die in battle. Would you, if it meant winning the war?”

Fishlegs blinked. “Um...what, like, a heroic sacrifice kind of thing? I guess, if it was worth it. I mean I don’t think I’d be brave enough to do it” he admitted. Then he stiffened. “Wait...You swore you wouldn’t treat us like we were expendable.”

“I’m not” Viggo said curtly, “but if you must know, I was talking to Hiccup earlier. He seems to think he can win this war and keep all of you alive in the meantime.”

“Why couldn’t he?” Fishlegs countered. “If anyone could do that, it’s Hiccup. You don’t know him like we do. He’s pulled off the impossible before. Look...I get that you’re used to looking out for yourself, but we’re a team. We don’t leave anyone behind. Yeah, this cause is worth fighting for, and we might die, but we don’t have to.”

Viggo found himself asking “Does this ‘no one is expendable’ rule apply to me, too?”

“Of course” Fishlegs replied, “why wouldn’t it? You’re...well, you’re one of us now.”

“Yet sending me away or leaving me to die would have spared all of you the trouble of nursing me back to health and questioning my allegiance” Viggo pointed out. “Don’t misunderstand - I’m grateful for you saving my life. I suppose I simply don’t understand why you’d bother...considering all that I’ve done” he muttered quietly.

Fishlegs replied, “We’re ‘ruled by compassion’, remember? I mean, you have done bad things...actually really terrible things...but you’ve changed. The dragons can sense it. The twins have been taking your advice to heart. Which reminds me, what in Odin’s name possessed you to teach those two stealth techniques? They’re dedicated to Loki. You have no idea what you’ve unleashed” he declared, serious.

Viggo snickered a bit, then coughed laboriously. Fishlegs moved surprisingly quickly for such a hefty sort, and helped him drink out of a tankard of water. “Thanks,” he said gratefully. “You know, it’s odd. When I think about...how I used to be, I feel more ill than usual” Viggo admitted, a faint crease between his eyes as he considered it.

“Really?” Fishlegs had never heard of that happening before. “How _do_ you feel?”

“Hmm. It’s sort of...a tightness in my chest, like my ribs are being crushed together. I feel nauseous and...repulsed, I suppose is the word, but I don’t know what from” he tried to explain. Glancing at Fishlegs, he saw the boy staring at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh, Viggo? Those sensations, it sounds like... you’re not feeling ill, that’s guilt” Fishlegs revealed. “It’s your conscience's way of telling you that what you did was wrong. Have...haven’t you ever felt guilt and regret before?” he asked cautiously.

The man looked stricken. “I...suppose I always ignored it before, if I ever did” he sighed. “I’m not sure I even had a - a conscience, before Hiccup…” he trailed off.

Fishlegs nodded sagely. “He has that effect on people. Have you...said you’re sorry?”

“Sorry?”

“Yes. You know, that you regret what you’ve done? Assuming you do. I think Hiccup would appreciate an apology for - y’know, trying to kill him” Fishlegs shrugged.

“And would that alleviate the symptoms of guilt?”

“You’re supposed to say sorry just because it’s the right thing to do...but yeah.”

Viggo pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I suppose it’s worth a try,” he conceded.

* * *

Just then, Meatlug’s ears twitched. “Ruffnut is coming” she warned her rider.

Sure enough, the female half of the Nut duo stuck her head around the door. “Aw, come on!” she complained, “I was this close! How am I supposed to sneak past the dragons?!”

The question was directed at Viggo, who responded “Well, what would you normally do if you wanted to sneak past someone?”

She screwed her face up in thought; Fishlegs was tempted to remind her not to hurt herself. “I guess I’d try and distract them….ohhh. I gotcha. Note to self - bring fish. Or rocks, in this case.”

Fishlegs rolled his eyes. “Ruffnut, what are you even doing here? You’re supposed to be on lookout. Please tell me you didn’t leave those two dummies up there instead.”

“Nah” she shrugged, “Snotlout went with Hiccup and Astrid, remember? Oh, and Tuff’s right behind you.”

Fishlegs folded his arms. “Nice try. There’s no way I’m gonna fall for that” he declared, right before something poked him in the back. “Ow! Okay, ha, ha, very funny, Tuffnut” he grumbled, turning to face the window, only to see nothing. “What the…?” Fishlegs only had a few moments to be confused before Tuffnut lunged.

“Aaaah!” Fishlegs screamed at the top of his lungs, lurching backwards. The twins, Viggo, Moonlight and even Meatlug fell about laughing. “It’s not funny” he complained, “and quit making Viggo laugh, you’re gonna aggravate his injuries!”

Struggling to catch his breath, the former hunter waved a dismissive hand. Tuffnut climbed in through the window. “So, Teach” he grinned at Viggo, “How’d we do?”

“Much better than I expected,” Viggo praised, “but you still need a lot of practice.”

Fishlegs gave him a long suffering glare. “Again, what in Odin’s name possessed you to teach stealth technique to the twins, of all people?” he demanded incredulously.

Viggo pursed his lips in thought. “Boredom and morbid curiosity” he answered. The twins snickered. “For now, you two should probably be getting back to your post.”

“First, Vigster, we’ve got a present for ya. Close your eyes” Tuffnut instructed. Viggo humoured him. “Okay, hold your hand out.” He placed something in the palm. “Bing!”

Viggo blinked at the piece of black leather with a strap, and a red clenched fist crudely stitched onto the front. At least, that’s what he thought it was supposed to be.

“An...eyepatch?”

“So you can look like a pirate,” Tuffnut explained. “Think of it like a ‘welcome to the Edge’ gift. Or I guess, a ‘welcome to the club’ gift, since y’know, you’ve been here before, back when you were trying to kill us. You’re part of a lot of clubs now. There’s the dragon riders, obviously, the ‘lost a body part on your left side’ club - Hiccup and Toothless are the only other members, same with the ‘self-sacrificing idiots’ club…”

“Don’t forget Snotlout. Remember the Speed Stingers? And the Cavern Crasher?”

“Oh yeah, good point. Anyway, what do you think?” Tuffnut asked Viggo eagerly.

He chose his words carefully. “Thank you, Tuffnut. It’s very...thoughtful of you.”

Ruffnut peered curiously at the parchment in his lap. “What’s all that for?”

“Oh, Fishlegs suggested I should design a hut for myself to stay in,” he explained.

“You’re not gonna, like, decorate it with dragon bones or something, are you?” she asked. Moonlight hissed, disgusted.

“Nothing of the sort,” Viggo said firmly. “I’m not that tasteless, you know. Besides, I already have an idea in mind.” He looked over at Moonlight and said, “I understand if you want to stretch your wings, you know. Rather than sit by the bed of an invalid.”

She purred and nuzzled him. “Moonlight stay with Viggo, help human.”

Viggo blinked, stunned. He had not expected this at all. “But why?” he whispered.

“Moonlight chained up. Viggo set free. Saw Viggo take arrows for Hiccup-Queen” she reminded him, tilting her head and chirping softly. “Know Viggo changed.”

Tuffnut remarked “You get used to it. I mean look at Toothless. He was shot down by Hiccup, and now they’re inseparable. Our dragons were all stuck in cages, we were training to kill ‘em...how do we keep training dragons that should really hate us?”

Nobody seemed to have an answer for that. Viggo, for his part, was struck by the loyalty of these dragons...which he supposed included his own now, too. He’d once seen dragons as nothing more than a resource for profit. The more he learned of their intelligence and kindness, the more he saw them instead as equals to humans.

* * *

When Hiccup and Toothless returned, they found Viggo sitting in a chair with a book in hand, wearing an eyepatch, with Moonlight nowhere in sight. “Uh. What’s with…?”

The wounded man glanced up at Hiccup. “Tuffnut gave it to me,” he remarked.

“Ah. Say no more.”

Toothless crooned. “Moonlight where?” he asked curiously, looking around.

“I finally convinced her to go on a flight and stretch her wings,” Viggo explained, setting the book he’d borrowed from Fishlegs aside. “Was your mission a success?”

Hiccup nodded. “We rescued every dragon on board; and you know, I didn’t even have to sacrifice any of my friends to do it” he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

 _By the gods, he’s stubborn_ , Viggo mused. “So only the men on the ships perished.”

“We didn’t even sink the ships; just disabled them” Hiccup declared. “Thing is, I can win battles without having to cause a lot of needless deaths,” he said pointedly.

“Yes, because I’m sure Johann will be merciful to those who have failed him.”

Hiccup folded his arms, defensive. “Johann might be a murderous traitor, but he’s not stupid. He must know if he kills too many of his own men, he won’t have any left.”

“He could simply hire more. You’d be amazed at what some are willing to do for pay.”

“Yeah, well...if they have any sense they’ll just replace the sails and leave the archipelago,” Hiccup responded, grasping at straws. “It’s not like they’d be missed.”

Viggo chuckled. “Johann will have contacts in every port from here to Cairo. If he wanted to track those men down and have them all executed for desertion, he could.”

“Why would he bother?”

“To make an example out of them, of course.”

“What are you saying?” Hiccup demanded, fists clenched. “That I should have just killed them?”

Viggo raised an eyebrow. “I am simply trying to point out the flaws in your reasoning, my dear boy” he replied, in an infuriatingly calm tone of voice.

Hiccup glared down at him. “Don’t call me that. D’you have any idea how patronising that sounds? You might be older than me, but don’t forget, I’m still in charge here.”

Eyes narrowed, Viggo braced a hand against the wall and stood up slowly. It was an effort to stay on his feet, but well worth it to see Hiccup take a step back. “You said you wanted to learn from me” Viggo declared, “and I was willing to teach you, but if you insist on acting like a petulant child just because I tell you things you don’t want to hear, then once I’m fit enough I’ll take my leave” he said firmly, feeling insulted.

Hiccup looked furious. “Well see if I” - before he could finish, Toothless butted his head between them, forcing the two apart. He pushed Hiccup away from Viggo, as if he was protecting the other man from his irate rider. Viggo carefully sat down again.

“Hiccup calm down. Not-say things you regret” the Night Fury insisted, pressing against Hiccup and purring deliberately. His human held him tight and sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He stayed there a few more minutes, and then opened his eyes. Silently walked over to the stool by the bed and sat down on it. Then he sighed.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I was being immature. Truce?” he asked tentatively, holding out a hand. Viggo nodded, reached over and shook it gently. Toothless crooned his approval and came over to nuzzle under Hiccup’s arm. “I know I need to win this war, for all our sakes. But I won’t sacrifice my friends to do it. I can’t. Neither should you. Viggo, swear to me that you won’t let our allies get killed just for the sake of victory.”

He met Viggo’s gaze, and the resolve in his bright green eyes had that peculiar sensation of pride and fondness coming back. Slowly, Viggo nodded. “On my honour, I swear.”

Hiccup was visibly relieved. “Okay. Good. I’m glad we have that settled. So, um...what’ve you been doing whilst I was gone?” he asked, trying to dispel the awkwardness but making it worse. At least in his eyes. Viggo didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh, not much. Stretched my legs a bit, tried to think of a design for my own hut” he replied. “I had an...illuminating chat with Fishlegs earlier. It appears that now I’ve changed sides, thoughts of my former life are causing me to feel...guilt” he admitted.

Hiccup and Toothless hadn’t expected that. “I’m uh, guessing that’s a new experience for you” the young man quipped, raising an eyebrow. “At least you are feeling it.”

“I’d rather not; it’s uncomfortable. Which I’m sure is the point, but for what it’s worth…” Viggo took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Hiccup. For everything.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened. “Everything?” he repeated. “So...you’re sorry for hunting and killing all those innocent dragons.”

“Yes.”

“And for trying to kill me and my friends.”

“I am.”

“And for nearly selling Toothless at that auction, putting a bounty on my head so you could kill me personally, cutting off our trade route so Berk would be starved out” -

“Yes!” Viggo snapped. “I. Am. Sorry. For all of it. Despite what you might have thought, I knew it was wrong, I just didn’t care before. It was just business. Now that I do…” he trailed off, brow furrowed. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, of course.”

Hiccup’s face softened. “Apology accepted, Viggo” he declared, making the older man stare at him in disbelief. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. I wouldn’t have been so willing to offer you a place with us if I hadn’t forgiven you” Hiccup pointed out. “I’ve never been one to hold a grudge, anyway.” He held a hand out to shake.

Moonlight came in moments later, and purred in approval at the sight of their joined hands. Toothless said magnanimously, “Toothless forgive Moonlight for try-kill us.”

The Skrill had the decency to look abashed. “Moonlight sorry for try-kill Queens.”

“It’s okay” Hiccup assured her, “and er, we’re sorry for the whole ‘freezing you back in an iceberg’ thing.” He looked at Viggo, who raised an eyebrow. “It’s a long story. Right!” Hiccup clapped his hands together and stood up. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. How about I get us some lunch, and afterwards we can have another game of Maces and Talons? I’ll try not to let you win this time” he added with a smirk.

Viggo grinned. “Now that’s something I’d love to see. But I was under the impression that ‘what I am not is your friend, your ally, or your Maces and Talons buddy’” he said.

Hiccup sauntered over to the door, Toothless following. “Guess times have changed.”

* * *

Later that day, Viggo looked up as the door opened and Astrid strode in. “Viggo” she said curtly by way of greeting, “we need to talk. Moonlight, can you give us some space? You can go talk with Stormfly for a bit, keep her company” she suggested.

The Skrill’s eyes narrowed. “I not-leave. Not trust you” she said stubbornly. Viggo could appreciate her overprotectiveness, even if he still didn’t think he deserved it. For now, though, Astrid wasn’t angry as far as he could tell. He’d be fine...probably.

“It’s okay, Moonlight” he rasped, “Astrid is unarmed. Let her say her piece.” He met Astrid’s gaze and remarked, “I’m assuming this has something to do with Hiccup.”

She nodded. “He was distracted the whole way out to those ships, after talking to you, and he wouldn’t tell me why. He still won’t. Probably thinks I’d get mad and take it out on you” Astrid reasoned. “I‘m not going to hurt you, but I said I’d be keeping an eye on you and I meant it. So. What exactly did you say to him?” she demanded.

Viggo briefly debated with himself whether to tell her or not. He concluded, in the span of a few seconds, that telling the truth - worded so as not to disturb her - would be the optimal course of action. “We were playing Maces and Talons. I pointed out that his habit of trying to protect all his pawns made him lose the game, and that the same attitude in battle could make him lose the war. Hiccup... didn’t take it well.”

Astrid pursed her lips in thought. “So you still view us as pawns, then” she remarked.

“It’s nothing personal, really. I see everyone as pawns” Viggo replied. She frowned and he cleared his throat. “That is to say, I did. A bad habit that I’m trying to break. Rest assured, Hiccup and I have already settled the matter between us.” Viggo hesitated, before admitting “I, ah, was advised to...that is to say…I’m sorry, Astrid.”

She raised an eyebrow, and put a hand on her hip. “Sorry for what, exactly?”

“For...blackmailing Hiccup for the Buffalord when you were dying from the Scourge.”

“And?” she pressed.

“Betraying you and threatening you with your own axe.”

“And?”

Viggo wracked his brains. “Trying to kill the man you love...more than once.”

Astrid eyed him, considering. “Maybe you really are trying to change,” she acknowledged. The next thing he knew, she was looming over and glaring at him. “Just remember, if you ever hurt Hiccup again, or betray us in any way, I will ensure you don’t live long enough to regret it” Astrid threatened. Viggo had expected such an ultimatum at some point, but Moonlight hissed and snarled. She backed up quickly.

“Stand down, Moonlight” he insisted, before coughing. “Astrid has every right to...” Another bout of coughs overcame him, and he groaned. His dragon stopped growling at a stricken-looking Astrid and nuzzled him instead. She approached them slowly.

Moonlight glared suspiciously at Astrid, who held her hands up in surrender. “It’s okay. I...I just want to help” she promised. Warily, the Skrill moved aside and allowed her to give Viggo a drink of water. He gave her a grateful nod when he’d finished. Astrid looked between him and Moonlight. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

“Yes. Viggo helped save Moonlight. Moonlight helped save Viggo” the Skrill declared.

Viggo spoke up. Softly, he murmured “I don’t mind...if you want to call me Willowbark. Maybe just Willow, for short?” His one good eye had softened as he looked at Moonlight, and it made Astrid feel strange. It was so weird to see Viggo Grimborn, of all people, look at a dragon that fondly. She still didn’t think she could trust him, but if he had the approval of the dragons, and of Hiccup...maybe she needed to trust _them_.

She heard the telltale rapid beat of Meatlug’s wings, and a thump as the Gronckle landed outside. Stormfly’s cheerful squawk at seeing her friend warmed Astrid’s heart. Fishlegs came in with his basket of medicines, and stopped on the threshold, looking between her and Viggo. “Err, is everything okay?” he asked nervously.

Before Astrid could say anything, Moonlight declared “Astrid threatened Willowbark.”

“Who...Wait, you mean Viggo?” he realised, looking incredulous. “Astrid, I know you don’t like the guy but was that really necessary?” Fishlegs asked in disapproval.

“Yes, it was” Viggo claimed, making them both stare at him. “It puts her mind at ease to make sure I know my place, and gives me even more of an incentive to earn your trust, lest she feel the need to make good on her threat. I’d expected this, really.”

Part of Astrid wanted to be mad at him for acting so calm about it all. Fishlegs came up the steps with the medicines but she just stood there, lost in thought. It was a long shot, but if she treated Viggo as a member of the team, maybe he wouldn’t want to betray them. “Can I help?” she found herself asking. “With his recovery, I mean…”

“I’m not really sure…” Fishlegs trailed off, and then his expression brightened. “Actually, maybe you can. D’you still have any training weights?” he inquired.

“Yeah, loads. Should I...bring some of the lighter ones?”

“Yes, please” Fishlegs nodded. To Viggo he explained, “It’ll help you get your strength back gradually, and give you something to do.” The man nodded in understanding.

Astrid called for Stormfly, and her dragon stalked into the hut. “See ya, Fishlegs. Um. Bye, Viggo” she said awkwardly, her face flushed, but she met his gaze defiantly.

Viggo gave her an acknowledging nod. “Goodbye, Astrid. See you later” he said politely. It felt too strange now. She jumped off Hiccup’s loft and onto Stormfly’s back, before her dragon ran out onto the decking and took off.


	2. Suspicions Aired

That evening, Moonlight went to eat with the other dragons, and Viggo found himself alone. He was rather confused when Hiccup came into the hut carrying a stack of bowls. His bewilderment only grew when Astrid followed Hiccup in with two stools, Snotlout with another two, the twins with a stool each, and finally Fishlegs with a large steamy pot on one of Hiccup’s dish heaters. “What’s all this?” he asked.

“Dinner” Tuffnut announced, setting the stool down. “Soup’s up.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I can see that, but what are you all doing in here?”

“Having dinner, duh” Ruffnut scoffed. “I thought you were supposed to be one of the smart ones.”

Hiccup grinned at the man’s bewilderment and explained, “You’re part of the team now, and we always eat together. So I figured if you can’t come down to eat with us, we’d just come up here and eat with you.” He handed Viggo a bowl of creamy leek and carrot soup.

“...You didn’t have to do that.”

“We know” Fishlegs shrugged, dishing out more food. “But we wanted to.”

Snotlout protested “We? Fishface, that makes it sound like it was unanimous. Hiccup suggested this idea, Astrid backed him up because of course she did...the rest of you went along with it and as usual, Snotlout gets outvoted!”

Astrid held out a bowl to him and asked “Then why did you still come up here?”

“Thanks, Astrid...and shut up, Astrid!” he retorted, face flaming. Judging from the way the other riders sniggered, Viggo assumed this exchange was a regular occurrence.

Once they’d finished second helpings of the soup - which was delicious – Fishlegs gathered up the dishes and took them back to the kitchen. Hiccup stood up and whistled for attention. “Right, so there’s a lot we need to discuss. First of all”-

“Yeah, first off, what is with that eyepatch?” Snotlout interrupted, gesturing up at Viggo. “No offence, but I can’t take you seriously when you’re wearing that thing.”

That raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was very generous of Tuffnut to give me this.”

“Woah, woah, wait. Tuffnut gave you that? And you still wore it?” Snotlout asked incredulously. “Oh, man, this oughta be good” he grinned.

“Hiccup, Fishlegs, did you know about this?” Astrid demanded.

“Um, yeah, but I don’t see the harm” said Hiccup, “it’s just an eyepatch.”

“Made by Tuffnut."

“I helped!”

“Why’d you guys always assume we’re up to something?”

“Because it’s _you_ we’re talking about.”

Viggo finally interrupted their bickering. “Excuse me. As amusing as your argument is, I have to ask, should I be worried about this?” He reached up to touch the patch.

All eyes fell on Ruff and Tuff, who did their best to look innocent and failed miserably. “You, err, might want to take it off” Hiccup admitted, “just to be on the safe side.”

He did so, and the reaction was immediate. Their eyes widened and flicked away; their lips pressed together like they were struggling not to laugh. He frowned. “What’s wrong?” Viggo demanded. Hiccup wordlessly showed him his reflection in a shiny Gronckle Iron shield. The left side of his face, where the eyepatch had been, was covered in crumbling black paint.

The twins wore matching irrepressible grins, and exclaimed in unison, “LOKI'D!” That broke the dam, and all of the riders promptly started giggling at him. Even Toothless and Moonlight, who returned just in time, chortled dragonishly. Viggo rolled his eyes, but their laughter was rather infectious and he found himself snickering as well.

“Yes, okay, very funny” he sighed, as Hiccup handed him a cloth, still grinning.

“You’re getting off easy” Snotlout claimed, “consider this payback for teaching them stealth skills, that they’ve been using to sneak into our huts and leave ‘surprises’.”

“Hey! You can’t blame Viggo for that part. We were gonna Loki you guys anyway!”

“Besides, we can’t leave any ‘surprises’ in here cos Moonlight’s always on guard” Tuffnut pointed out, “but once Viggo has his own hut…heh, heh, heh, heh, heh.”

The man in question didn’t seem too perturbed. “I don’t have to teach them stealth techniques if it’s that disruptive,” he remarked, making the twins gape at him. He looked at Hiccup and said “If you order me to, I’ll stop.”

“No, I’m not going to do that,” Hiccup decided, “it might come in useful. Besides, the twin’s pranks are annoying, but they’re not dangerous.”

“Excuse me?” Snotlout asked indignantly. “I beg to differ!”

“Didn’t Tuffnut drop his sister in a pit with a live snake in it one time?” Fishlegs asked.

Hiccup sighed. “You guys really don’t make it easy for me, do you?”

“Nope!” the twins answered cheerfully in unison.

Snotlout folded his arms and huffed. “The pranks are one thing, but I still don’t like that he’s teaching you these so-called ‘stealth techniques’” he declared, eyeing Viggo suspiciously. “How do we know you’re not using them to spy on us? Or planning to manipulate them into stealing something for you? Like – oh, gee, I dunno – the Dragon Eye lenses?”

“Really, Snotlout?” Hiccup frowned, exasperated. “You’re really going there? He’s _changed_. He’s on our side now. If anything, he’d want to help us steal _Johann’s_ lenses and Dragon Eye…right?” he asked Viggo hopefully.

The other man nodded. “It would be nice to get revenge…in a non-fatal way, of course. You know, Snotlout’s attitude is precisely what a skilled strategist needs to have” he noted. “You should consider practicing it, Hiccup.”

“What, paranoia?” Hiccup’s eyebrows rose. “No offence, but if your advice is to be more like Snotlout then I might have to rethink this arrangement.”

Viggo smirked. “Pity; I always did like your sense of humour. No matter. I’ll just find another apprentice. What do you say, Snotlout?” he asked politely.

“Huh?”

“Um, I’m confused” said Tuffnut. “Are we being used as spies or not?”

“Tuff, you’re fine” Hiccup rolled his eyes. “No one is spying on anyone.”

“Well, how do you know for sure?” Viggo remarked. “After all, the twins have been kind enough to tell me about your adventures. It sounds like you’ve all done some quite impressive stuff, I must say” he complimented.

“Aha!” Snotlout exclaimed triumphantly, “So you _admit_ to treachery!”

Hiccup snapped “That’s _enough_ , Snotlout.” To Viggo he demanded, “Are you _trying_ to make Snotlout dislike you? He’s been paranoid enough as is.”

“What you call ‘being paranoid’, another might call ‘being practical’” Viggo retorted. “If you want some advice, my dear boy, stop jumping to conclusions about the problem and start thinking of a solution” he challenged. Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, closed it again, and started to pace back and forth, brow furrowed in thought.

Astrid was at the end of her rope. “I’ve got advice for _you_ ” she glared at Viggo, “quit trying to mess with our heads for your own amusement!”

“Yeah, especially with Snotlout’s head” Tuffnut quipped, “there’s not really a lot in there to mess with anyway.”

“Oi!”

Hiccup interrupted them before things could get out of hand. “Okay, guys. I think the best solution is for Snotlout to join in with this stealth training, so you can see for yourself that there’s nothing to be suspicious of and Viggo _isn’t_ trying to turn us against each other” he declared firmly.

Snotlout gaped at him, indignant. Viggo nodded thoughtfully, saying “It also gives him an opportunity to detect if I was plotting something- which I’m not, but one can never be too careful. You did well” he praised Hiccup, before teasingly adding “Perhaps I don’t need to find a new apprentice after all.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes, but secretly he was pleased. Snotlout declared “Oh no, you don’t. I am not having _anything_ to do with that guy!”

“I’ll do it then, you wimp” Astrid said bluntly. “I could do with the practice, anyway.”

“Good idea. You can keep an eye on him and the twins. I’m gonna rub it in your face _so hard,_ Hiccup, if it turns out the guy really is up to something!”

“Fine by me” Hiccup shrugged, “so long as you promise that if – when – nothing goes wrong, you’ll quit with all this suspicion of Viggo. Deal?”

“Deal!” The two cousins shook hands, staring each other down.

Just then, Fishlegs returned from the clubhouse kitchen. “Sorry, I got caught up with cleaning the…am I interrupting something?” he asked.

* * *

“No, Legs, it’s fine” Hiccup said quickly, “We were just…settling a minor disagreement. Now that it’s settled, can we get back on topic?”

“Yeah, we sure got side-tracked” Astrid commented. “Sorry, babe. What were you saying?”

Hiccup gave her a grateful smile. “So it’s been a while since the, uh, incident…I think it’s time we tell our allies about Viggo,” he announced. Everyone stared at him in surprise.

Astrid’s brow furrowed. “Wait. You haven’t told the others about all of this?” she asked incredulously.

Hiccup winced. “Not _yet_. I was going to, honest, but I wanted to wait until he was more recovered.”

Snotlout exclaimed, “I call dibs on telling the Wingmaidens!”

“Um, hello? Honorary Wingmaiden here! If anyone should be telling them, it’s me.”

“Yeah, but Minden’s gonna be there, and she’s totally into me” Snotlout insisted. Everyone looked sceptical. “What, she is! She kissed me on the lips!”

“Guys, come on,” Hiccup interrupted. “You can both go to Wingmaiden Island. We agreed to have at least two dragons on every mission, remember?”

“Um, our dragon has two heads, so…”

“That doesn’t count, Ruffnut” he informed her, before adding “Hey, do me a favour and tell Atali about Snotlout and Minden, so she can arrange a chaperone for them.”

“What?” Snotlout gaped indignantly. “Hiccup, I don’t need a chaperone! I’m nineteen!”

“Were you planning to propose to Minden?” Hiccup challenged, staring Snotlout down. “Because if not, then you’re having a chaperone. End of story. The last thing I need is an inter-tribal incident starting because Atali didn’t take kindly to you making advances at one of her people” he said sternly. Snotlout gaped at him, and then scowled, sulking.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. “Do you think she’d reciprocate? I mean, it’s Snotlout.”

“Yeah, I know, but I’d rather not take the risk,” he replied. Snotlout glared at them.

“Well, in that case...Snotlout, you remember how you first met the Wingmaidens?”

“Yeah, they pulled me out of the ocean when I was running away from...oh no…”

She smiled sweetly, yet it was terrifying. “I’d be on your best behaviour if I were you.”

“Yes, ma’am” Snotlout gulped.

Hiccup turned to Viggo, who was thoroughly amused, remarking “And she thinks I’m overreacting. Ow!” He winced when she punched him in the arm. “Seriously?”

Astrid kissed his cheek in apology. “I’ll tell Heather” she volunteered, “I’ve been meaning to visit her, anyway. Fishlegs, you wanna come with me?” she asked.

“Okay!” he agreed far too quickly. “...I mean, sure. No problem.”

Tuffnut asked “What about Viggo? I thought someone had to keep an eye on him.”

“We’re not all going at the same time” Hiccup replied with a sigh, exasperated. “You two and Snotlout go to Wingmaiden Island. When you get back, Astrid and Fishlegs will go to Berserker Island. When they get back, Snotlout, you and I will go tell Mala and Dagur.”

“How come I have to go on two missions?” Snotlout complained.

Astrid put an arm around her partner’s waist. “Well, I’m happy to go with Hiccup if you don’t want to visit Dagur,” she remarked casually.

“...Okay, fine, I’ll go. Hey, how come you two don’t need a chaperone?”

“Because we’re betrothed” Hiccup retorted. To Astrid he said, “You can come with me to Berk, if you want.”

“I’d love to, but we agreed we wouldn’t both leave the Edge again” she reminded him. “Maybe we should just send a T-Mail.”

“Yeah, but it might get intercepted. Eh, we’ll figure something out” Hiccup shrugged. “Now, to avoid any misunderstandings, Fishlegs and I have already copied out letters explaining the situation. So you guys don’t even have to say a word.”

Tuffnut said indignantly, “Hey, Viggo, can you believe this guy? It’s like he doesn’t trust us to do anything!”

Viggo snickered. “Oh, I’m sure that’s not true. He’s trusting you to deliver a letter, isn’t he?”

“Exactly! Of course I trust you guys. Once we’re all on the same page, we’ll meet up and discuss how to defeat Johann and Krogan once and for all” Hiccup said firmly. The other riders nodded, full of determination.

* * *

Then Snotlout had to remark “You know, I love the enthusiasm, but would it be prudent, whatever that means, to point out that we have someone who _worked_ with Johann _right here_?!” he demanded, gesturing at Viggo.

Fishlegs rolled his eyes. “Snotlout, how could he have told us anything? He’s been unconscious most of the time!”

“Yeah, but we should’ve grilled him for information as soon as we could.”

“Well, have you asked him anything?”

“...Shut up, Fishface.”

Hiccup turned to Viggo. “This is what you signed up for, I’m afraid. I didn’t ask sooner because you were still recovering – and, y’know, unconscious -but is there anything you can tell us about what Johann and Krogan are planning to do next? You said they only need one more lens.” 

“That is true” Viggo agreed, “but fortunately they don’t seem to have located it yet.” He rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “Ah. In fact, if you get me a map, I can mark off the places they’ve searched for Dragon Eye lenses, giving you a chance to figure out where the last one might be.”

Hiccup nodded and went to fetch one of his maps. Mentioning the Dragon Eye piqued Fishlegs’ curiosity. He hesitated before asking, “Viggo? I always wondered...d’you know who made the original Dragon Eye? And why?”

“Yeah, and why are the things that make it work scattered all over the place?” Tuffnut questioned. “That seems really dumb.”

Viggo explained, “The device was created by my own ancestors, generations ago. It wasn’t called the Dragon Eye back then, but the original name has been lost. Personally l think I prefer your appellation; it has a nice ring to it. As for why...you already know its function, to record information on dragon species. What you really mean is, why did they build the Dragon Eye instead of just writing it down in a book?”

Fishlegs blushed. “Um, yeah, that’s probably a better way of putting it.”

“Well the answer is simple; books can be damaged. The Dragon Eye was built to last, as its foray into a volcano can attest. The lenses were once kept together, but to keep thieves from taking all of them at once they were hidden in difficult to access places, unless you know where to look. Of course, my ancestors probably didn’t expect to have to contend with a bunch of do-gooder dragon riders” Viggo smirked at them.

Hiccup gave him a map and a pencil. “Yeah, you know, we get that a lot” he snarked. Viggo chuckled, and started crossing out islands on the map. Once he’d finished, he handed it back to Hiccup. Only a few islands were left unmarked; mostly those being lived on. A faint memory stirred at the back of Hiccup’s mind, but not enough to get his attention. “Thanks for that. It’ll help us stay one step ahead of them, at least” he said gratefully.

“You’re welcome,” Viggo replied smoothly. “It’s the least I can do, considering…” He trailed off with an awkward grimace, opened his mouth to speak, and closed it again.

Hiccup’s brow furrowed in concern. “Something wrong?” he inquired.

The other man shook his head. “No, it’s just...I’ve been thinking about how outnumbered you are” he explained. “You don’t have the manpower - or dragon-power, rather - to spare, and the Flyers might attack the Edge if you stretch yourselves too thin” Viggo pointed out. “I know, because...that’s the very tactic I suggested back before I changed sides.”

Astrid folded her arms and declared “We’re not helpless, you know. We can get the A-Team from Berk.”

Viggo canted an eyebrow. “And risk leaving your home island defenceless?” he pointed out. “Not really a sound battle tactic, now is it? Astrid, be reasonable. You know you don’t have enough riders. It both impresses and _baffles_ me that the six of you, by yourselves, managed to keep on top of my ships’ movements enough to rescue dragons and put a dent in my profits, and still have time to defend your base.”

Hiccup retorted, “It impresses and baffles _me_ that you’re managing to compliment us and patronise us at the same time. Viggo, you don’t have to do the mind game thing” he said, exasperated. “If you have an idea that might help, then you can just tell us.”

To his credit, Viggo looked abashed. “It's a force of habit. My apologies” he murmured, before clenching his fists as a jolt of pain shot through him. Fishlegs jumped up and hurried to get the willow bark tea. Moonlight nuzzled Viggo, who absentmindedly tried to reach up and pet her, only to wince when he moved his arm.

“Hey, woah, easy” Hiccup prompted, carefully helping lower it. “Don’t strain yourself.”

Viggo tried to brush him away. “I’m fine” the injured man insisted stubbornly.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you’re the picture of health” he snarked. Fishlegs handed a cup of the painkilling tea to Astrid, who handed it to Hiccup. “Here”, he pressed it into Viggo’s hands, which he could feel trembling beneath his own.

Once he’d drunk, Viggo gave the cup back. “Thank you. I…” He sighed. “I have an idea - well, more of a hunch, really - but I don’t even know if it would work. Besides, it wouldn’t really ease Astrid and Snotlout’s suspicions of me” he admitted frankly.

“They’re not the leader. I am,” Hiccup declared, “and I want to hear it. So, tell us.”

Everyone was paying attention to Viggo, even the dragons. He began to explain. “Most of the dragon hunters are - mercenaries, shall we say. They’ll obey the orders of whoever is paying them at the time. There are, however, a few men who might not be loyal, for lack of a better word, to Johann or Krogan...but to me, instead. Ryker wasn’t the only relative I used to work alongside. My idea is essentially to try and make contact with those men, and see if they’d be willing to defect to your side, as I did.”

Hiccup looked thoughtful. Snotlout, not so much. “You’re not actually considering this are you?” he asked rhetorically. “What am I saying, of course you are. Hiccup, it’s obviously a trap. He said it himself, these guys would be loyal to him. They’d just help him betray us!”

“You mean like he betrayed me and Toothless in those caves?” Hiccup retorted.

“Look, just because you and Viggo are such good friends now, doesn’t mean he can be trusted!” Snotlout exclaimed. “This sounds like a ploy to get dragon hunters infiltrating us and taking over. Use your _brain_ , Hiccup. This. Is. A. Terrible. Idea!”

Astrid remarked “You know I hate to agree with Snotlout, but he does have a point. We should ask our _allies_ for help guarding the Edge, people we know we can trust.”

“At least he offered a solution” Hiccup replied, “and has it occurred to either of you that maybe he suggested that one in particular to get people he cares about away from Krogan? That man is a lunatic! He treats them like they’re expendable!”

“It’s Viggo we’re talking about!” Snotlout yelled, “He used to do the same thing!”

Moonlight shrieked “Enough! Willow good! Willow changed. Not-hurt dragons. Not-betray. You not-talk about my friend like he’s not here!” she snarled, lightning crackling in her jaws. Everyone’s eyes widened in alarm, and the ones on their feet backed away. Toothless reared up and roared a command at her. Immediately she stopped and crouched submissively, but her bright yellow eyes were still baleful.

Everyone was shaken, even Viggo. “Moonlight…” he said breathlessly, “I know you’re trying to help, but shocking them all with lightning isn’t going to make us any friends.”

She whined and wriggled closer to him. “Sorry. Was angry. Got carried away.”

“I’m sorry too,” Astrid offered. Never let it be said that she didn’t admit when she was wrong. “Talking about you like you weren’t there was disrespectful” she said to Viggo, “and your suggestion...it’s not a bad one, exactly. It’s just, you might have changed, but your men? We don’t know them, and we don’t know if we can trust any of them.”

He nodded. “Of course. I didn’t expect you to agree outright. It was a foolish idea.”

“Don’t say that,” Hiccup insisted. “It’s a flawed idea, sure, but if you hadn’t suggested it, we wouldn’t be thinking of better solutions. Honestly? I’d love a chance to change their minds, and undermine Johann at the same time. Can you imagine the look on his face when some of the men he’d taken command of switched sides?”

Viggo chuckled softly. “Yes, and it would be terrifying” he quipped. His fingers twisted in his lap. “You were...surprisingly correct, about my motives. It seems my new conscience is pestering me about the men I’ve left at Krogan’s mercy” he admitted.

“But you didn’t say that, because you don’t think we trust you enough to believe you” Hiccup guessed. Viggo’s eyes widened, and he glanced away.

“Woah” said Tuffnut. “Did Hiccup just get inside Viggo’s head?”

“I think so” muttered Ruffnut.

“The student has become the master.”

“That was fast.”

Their banter cut through the tension in the room like a hot knife through butter. Everyone visibly relaxed, even Snotlout. Then Fishlegs announced, “Okay! I think that’s enough excitement for one night. You’re gonna wear Viggo out.”

“That’s right” he agreed hoarsely, “I’m an old man. I need my rest.”

They all sniggered. Fishlegs started herding the twins out of the hut. “Hey, Snotlout, can you and Hookfang come on patrol with us?” asked Hiccup.

“Actually it’s been a long day, I was thinking of having an early…” Snotlout trailed off when he noticed his leaders pointed stare. “Ha, yeah. Patrol. No problem” he said hastily, rolling his eyes when Hiccup wasn’t looking.

* * *

Hookfang and Toothless glided alongside each other as they made a lap of the island. Their riders didn’t speak for a while. At last Snotlout declared “I know what you’re gonna say, Hiccup. That I’m being an idiot, and paranoid, and I should give Viggo a chance because he’s a good guy now.”

Hiccup sighed. “Well, two out of three isn’t bad” he quipped. “Snotlout, you’re not an idiot. Well. Not all the time, anyway. But I do think you’re being paranoid. Viggo has changed. I know you don’t trust him, but you trust me and the dragons, right? Doesn’t our word count for anything?”

Snotlout replied “I didn’t say that. I trust _you,_ it’s him I don’t trust.”

“Why not?” Hiccup demanded. “Why can’t you believe he’s changed? Johann betrayed him. What makes you think Viggo’s still on his side?”

“I don’t!” Snotlout shouted. “I think Viggo Grimborn is on Viggo Grimborns’ side. He’s the one who keeps saying we shouldn’t trust him. _He’s_ the one who keeps saying he’s a businessman…maybe he wants to kill those two so _he_ can find the King of Dragons and sell it for a fortune!”

Hiccup was about to protest, when he remembered Viggo’s own admission that if given the chance, he’d have taken Johann’s contract with whoever Krogan was employed by for himself. “Okay…so maybe he does want the King of Dragons” he said slowly, “but if that’s the case, we’re his best chance of finding them. It makes more sense for him to work with us.”

“And then stab us in the back at the last minute?” Snotlout retorted. “No way, Hiccup. I’m not letting my guard down around him. I _can’t_.”

Hiccup sighed. “Why? You’re not the one he’s tried to have murdered.”

“No, you are! And you still” – Snotlout made a frustrated noise. “Just because he spun you some sob story about being betrayed, and rescued by a dragon, like that really happened. Viggo _lies_ , Hiccup. It’s what he does. What if Krogan betrayed Johann, and that git came crawling back? Would you forgive him as well?”

“Of course not” Hiccup snapped, “and for the record, I forgave Viggo for the same reason I forgave Dagur. Holding a grudge is _pointless_ , Snotlout.”

Snotlout made to retort, when Hookfang growled. “What is it, Hooky?”

“Singetails” warned Hiccup, spotting two of them approaching the island from the north. “We can’t let them reach Dragon’s Edge. Come on!”

Toothless picked up the pace, and Hookfang fought to match him. “Wait! Shouldn’t we get back up?” Snotlout questioned as they raced forwards.

“There’s no time. The two of us can take them on, so long as we work – look out!” Hiccup yelled, as one of the Singetails fired a blast at them. Their dragons dodged, and Toothless shot in retaliation. “Nice going, bud!”

The flyers urged their dragons to attack, but between Hookfang’s flaming wing claps and Toothless’ precise shots, they were soon dismounted. As the Singetails fled, Snotlout cheered. “Snotfang, Snotfang! Oi! Oi! Oi! Hey, at least you were right about us being able to take them on. That was easy.”

“No…” Hiccup said slowly; something didn’t feel right. “That was _too_ easy.” He looked at Snotlout in alarm. “We need to get back to the Edge. _Now_.”

* * *

“We need to up our game” Ruffnut informed her brother that night, well after they’d supposedly gone to bed. She couldn’t possibly sleep knowing that Astrid would be getting training in stealth and ambush techniques too. “I’m telling you, bro. If she gets any better at sneaking than she already is, you and I can kiss our pranking and sleuthing days goodbye!”

Tuffnut groaned, and stuck his head out from under his blanket. “Ugh, sis, go back to sleep. You should be more like Chicken” he advised, pointing at his pet bird with her head tucked under her wing. “Quiet, and so I don’t have to see your face.” With that, he rolled over and ignored her.

She stuck her tongue out at him. _Let him laze around_ she decided, _I’m going to practice my sneaking skills._ Ruffnut dressed in dark clothes, covered her hair with a cloak, and slipped as quietly as she could out of the door. Unbeknownst to her, when it closed Tuffnut sat up, frowning.

It was a new moon that night, and the sky was clouded over. _Perfect sneaking weather_ Ruffnut grinned to herself, staying in the shadows. First she took the zip line down from their platform; it wasn’t as silent, but it was quicker and less exposed than the ramps. Now, where next? Perhaps she ought to pay Astrid a visit, just to show her what she was up against.

Ruffnut tried to remember all the advice Viggo had given them. Stay in the shadows, don’t step on anything that could make a sound... She grimaced upon realising that she’d forgotten to bring any fish or chicken to distract Stormfly with. _Wait! It doesn’t matter, she’ll be in her stable. Still wish I’d brought one though. Could’ve left it for Astrid to step on when she gets up._

She’d forgotten how much of a pain in the neck it was to get around on foot. How did people without dragons even manage? Ruffnut made it to the bottom of the cliff where Astrid’s hut was situated. Before she could start to climb up it, rustling noises made her duck behind a bush. Another hooded figure slipped out of the shadows and began to head up the ramp.

Ruffnut’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she carefully left her hiding place to follow. She couldn’t see this mystery persons face, but their silhouette was that of a man. Whoever it was, they were too tall to be Snotlout, too slender to be Fishlegs, and two both-footed to be Hiccup. She already knew that Tuffnut was in bed, so who else could it be?

The thought crossed her mind, _What if it’s Viggo?_ But even Ruffnut knew that made no sense. The guy was injured, and injuries could be faked, sure, but she’d seen the bloodied arrows Fishlegs pulled out of his back. So if this stranger wasn’t any of the men she _knew_ were on Dragon’s Edge…

They were an intruder, and Ruffnut knew exactly how to deal with those. She picked up the pace, ready to tackle them, but her foot landed on a creaky board. The interloper spun around and raised a blowpipe in one smooth motion. The dart flew out but hit nothing, because Ruffnut had crouched the moment she saw him move. _Thank you, battle reflexes._

She launched herself at him and struck him in the stomach with both fists. He grunted but stayed on his feet, grabbed her by the shoulders and flung her off the edge of the ramp. Ruffnut screamed as she plummeted. At what felt like the last minute, she landed with a thump on Barf’s neck.

“Thanks bro” she said gratefully, not bothering to question why he and their dragon were there in the first place. It was good timing. Barf&Belch flew to intercept the fleeing intruder, snatching him up in their talons. “Now what? Should we lock him up, or should we play fetch with him?”

Tuffnut shrugged, both of them ignoring their captive’s threats. Like they hadn’t heard those ones before. “I dunno. Let’s ask Hiccup” he suggested, pointing over her head to where a certain Night Fury was flying in. They met him halfway, the prisoner still struggling in Barf&Belch’s grasp. “Hey, Hiccup! Look! We caught an intruder; can we drop him in the ocean?”

“No!” Hiccup snapped. “Take his weapons and lock him in the stables. Snotlout, check on Fishlegs” he ordered. They flew off, and Toothless landed outside Astrid’s hut. Hiccup dismounted before his paws even touched the decking and knocked frantically on the door. After a few moments, it was yanked open, and his girlfriend scowled sleepily at him.

“Oh thank Thor, you’re alright” he sighed in relief, pulling her into a hug. Caught off guard, she hugged back, before holding him at arms length.

“What’s going on?”

“The twins just caught an intruder” Hiccup revealed, and her eyes widened. “I was scared there might be more of them so I” – she kissed him suddenly. He felt confused for a moment, but he wasn’t about to complain, so he kissed her back.

Astrid pulled away and said “Thank you for checking on me. Now, let’s secure the island, shall we?” she offered, hefting a weapon off the wall. Before Hiccup could protest that she ought to just go back to sleep, Astrid had pushed past him and gone outside to climb onto Toothless’ saddle.

* * *

They searched the island thoroughly, but there seemed to be no sign of any other trespassers. The boat that the prisoner had arrived in was at the docks; it was made entirely of Loki Tree wood, so it was pitch black and camouflaged in the night. So were the prisoner’s clothes, thus explaining why the Night Terrors hadn’t spotted him sooner and raised the alarm.

With no sign of other enemies, the riders gathered around to confront their captive. He was maybe in his mid-thirties or so, tall and muscular, clad in black painted dragonskin. At least Hiccup really _hoped_ it was just black paint. “What were you doing on our island?” he demanded sternly.

The man just glared at him, and spat at his feet. Toothless snarled. “Charming. We can come back after you’re done with your tantrum” he commented mockingly, “or we can talk this out like adults. Your choice.”

“You can talk now or you can talk whilst you’re plummeting to the ground” Astrid declared, spinning her ax in her hands. “Your choice” she finished.

He sneered at her. “Torture me all you want, dragon rider. I’ll never talk.”

Of course Tuffnut had to point out, “But you’re talking right now.”

Hiccup motioned for them to be quiet. “Were you planning to kill me?” he questioned. “I won’t be offended if you say yes. It happens to me a lot.”

“Hiccup!”

“Well, it does.”

The stranger gave a harsh chuckle, but still refused to answer his question. Hiccup was starting to wonder if he should just let Astrid have her way, but then Ruffnut had to interject. “Nice try, pal! I saw you heading to Hiccup and Astrid’s huts, so either you were planning to kill him, or her, or Vig-mmph!” She was cut off suddenly by Hiccup’s hand over her mouth.

It was too late, though. “Viggo Grimborn is still hiding behind you, is he?” the hunter asked rhetorically, sneering at Hiccup. “You’re all fools. That treacherous dog will stab you in the back the first chance he gets.”

“Viggo could have betrayed me at Johann’s base, but he didn’t” Hiccup replied calmly, meeting their eyes. “He was willing to sacrifice himself so I could escape. He’s one of us now, and we protect our own” he declared.

Snotlout commented, “Well, I wouldn’t go _that_ far…”- he winced when Astrid punched him.

The prisoner scoffed. “Sentimental brat. Don’t be surprised when he betrays you, Haddock” he sneered. “It’s as sure as sunrise, with that man.”

“This is going nowhere, “Hiccup decided. “Everyone, back to bed. Keep your dragons with you” he instructed, not that they needed to be told twice. Hiccup was yawning by the time he and Toothless got back to their hut. He tried to be quiet whilst taking the saddle off, but Viggo stirred.

“Hiccup?”

He winced sympathetically and whispered “Sorry. Go back to sleep.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you frowning?”

Hiccup sighed. Toothless helpfully lit a candle with a tiny puff of flame. “Thanks, bud” he said gratefully, before looking over at Viggo. “Okay, yeah. Snotlout and I took out a couple of dragon flyers, but then I realised it was a distraction and rushed back, and the twins had caught an intruder. We searched the island and it looks like there was only one of them.”

Moonlight hissed. “Enemy-human invade nest, for what?” she demanded.

Hiccup continued to remove Toothless’ gear. “We haven’t questioned him yet, but Ruffnut said he was heading this way, so…to kill me, probably.”

“Or me” Viggo pointed out, “I’d be a more tempting target. No offence. I’m sure you wouldn’t let them, Moonlight” he murmured as she growled. To Hiccup he remarked, “Honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken them so long.”

“It might not have” Hiccup admitted, as he stripped off his armour. “There’ve been other attacks since you – since I brought you here” he explained, “but we drove them off. I did hope they’d think you were dead and not bother, but…” he sighed. “I guess Johann didn’t spend years getting information on us for no reason. No _good_ reason, anyway.”

Viggo was silent for a long moment, digesting this information. Finally he asked, “What will you do with the prisoner?”

Hiccup stifled a yawn. “We can’t keep him here. Probably send him to Outcast Island or something. They’ve got plenty of cell space. One thing’s for sure, we _do_ need more people guarding the island” he admitted.

“I’m surprised you hadn’t thought of that sooner” murmured Viggo.

Laying some blankets down once Toothless had settled himself down, Hiccup shrugged. “Yeah, but y’know, Vikings. Stubbornness issues” he replied, sitting down on the edge of Toothless’ stone slab. Hiccup tugged off his prosthetic and made to lie down. “Yeah, so…goodnight, I guess.”

“Goodnight, Hiccup. Sleep well.”


	3. Truth Revealed

Viggo awakened the next morning just as Hiccup was returning with breakfast. “Good morning” he greeted, as Toothless deposited a mouthful of fish for Moonlight on the floor. “Don’t worry about the medicine; Fishlegs took care of it” he explained, setting the tray down and helping him sit up. He handed Viggo a bowl of porridge and picked up his own.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Presently Viggo remarked, “I take it the prisoner hasn’t escaped, then.”

“No, thank Thor. Please don’t tell me you’re disappointed” Hiccup remarked.

“Of course not” Viggo replied. “I mean, if he killed all of you, who would bring me breakfast?” he asked innocently. Hiccup snickered.

“Oh, right. So what you’re saying is, you’re just in it for the room service.”

Viggo smirked. “It is good service. I have to admit though, I’ll be glad when I can finally _do_ things again” he huffed. “Like shave, for a start.” His once neatly groomed beard had grown out into a bristly, patchy mess during all the time in convalescence. He’d probably cut himself on the razor, though.

Hiccup looked sympathetic. “You’ll be back on your feet in no time” he assured the man. “So, listen. I’m going to be away from the Edge all morning, and I’m leaving Astrid in charge. Fair warning” he said with a smirk. Viggo mock-grimaced. “Ha, ha. I did ask her to go easy on you.”

“What are you going to be doing?”

“Snotlout and I are going to take him - the prisoner, that is - to the Defenders. They’re the closest of our allies, and I can explain the – uh, current situation to Mala and Dagur whilst I’m there” Hiccup explained.

“Shouldn’t Dagur be on Berserker Island?” Viggo inquired.

Hiccup was surprised. “You didn’t know? He and Mala are betrothed. Dagur’s going to be her king and Heather will be the chieftess of their tribe. Don’t worry, none of us saw that coming either” he admitted.

Viggo blinked. “You learn something new every day. It is a neat solution, though. Not what I’d have done, but elegant nonetheless” he praised.

“Let me guess. What you’d have done is just kill him.”

“You have to admit, it is the most expedient solution.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes, and reached out for Viggo’s empty bowl. “We don’t kill unless we have to. You know that” he insisted, setting the dishes aside.

Viggo inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I know you wouldn’t. That’s just what I…what my former self would have done” he pointed out.

“Yeah…so, there was another thing. I assume the island I met you on was the same one where they tried to kill you” Hiccup checked. Viggo nodded. “The Monstrous Nightmare who saved you, what colour were they?”

“…Turquoise, I think. With red and yellow markings, and a red snout.”

“Male or female?”

“Male. Why do you ask?”

Hiccup began to explain, “Because I want Snotlout to meet them.”

“Doesn’t he already have a Nightmare to ride?”

“Funny” Hiccup deadpanned. “I want to find this dragon and get him to corroborate your story. Not that I don’t believe you, but Snotlout won’t take your word for it. So I figured maybe if he heard it from someone who was there, then he’ll finally be willing to give you a chance” he explained. 

For a moment, Viggo was silent. At last he spoke. “It’s good that you’re thinking ahead…but you needn’t trouble yourself, my boy. It’s good that Snotlout doesn’t trust me. I’d prefer it if he didn’t, actually” he confessed.

Hiccup’s jaw dropped. “Why?” he questioned, staring in disbelief. “Viggo, you’ve changed. The dragons know that. I know that. Fishlegs and the twins know it. Heck, I think even Astrid might be starting to come around. Why don’t you want Snotlout to trust you?” 

“Why is it so important to you that he _does_ trust me?” Viggo countered.

“I asked you first. Don’t change the subject.”

“Touché.” Viggo picked at the blankets, and Hiccup suddenly realised he was embarrassed. “I’m not like you, Hiccup. For all we have things in common, my instinct is still towards cruelty rather than kindness. And I want to be better” he said earnestly, meeting Hiccup’s eyes. “I do. But until I learn to curb my darker urges, I need someone to hold me back.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened. “You don’t trust yourself” he breathed, “you think you need a – a morality leash, to keep from becoming the old you again.”

Toothless crooned in sympathy, pupils wide. Moonlight purred and bussed him gently. “Willow good. Willow can-trust self” she told her human.

“You should listen to her” Hiccup smiled. “Don’t you get it? The fact that you’re worried about this, or even brought it up at all, just proves my point that you’ve changed. I bet the old you wouldn’t have even mentioned the idea or agreed with Snotlout, just to lull us into a false sense of security.”

Viggo actually looked impressed. “You’re learning” he noted, “but have you considered that this just is another way I could be manipulating you?”

“Yes, but that’s too convoluted even for you” Hiccup retorted. “Look, if you’re worried about falling back into bad habits, we can all help set you straight. You don’t need us to keep suspecting you of foul play for that. Y’know, that guy said the same thing. That you’d stab us in the back first chance you got, sure as sunrise. And do you know what I said to him?”

“What?”

“I told him you’re one of us now, and we protect our own” Hiccup said firmly. “Even from themselves. You could have betrayed me that day, and let Krogan kill me, but you didn’t. You could have escaped and left Moonlight and us there, but you _didn’t._ You were willing to sacrifice yourself so we could escape. Now I know, I can trust you with my life.” 

For the first time in a long time, Viggo was speechless. The silence was broken at last by Toothless, whose ear flaps pricked up. “Human crying?” he asked, confused. Now that they were paying attention, the two men could definitely hear some sniffles. Moonlight nudged the window open.

“Tuff?” Hiccup asked incredulously. “What are – why are you crying?”

He sniffled. “Sorry. I know I gave myself away, but that speech was _beautiful,_ Hiccup. Even better than last night. You’re such an inspiration!”

“Uh…thanks?” Hiccup answered, flattered and a bit perturbed. “Also, new rule. No more eavesdropping outside each other’s huts” he ordered firmly.

“You’re the boss. I can still eavesdrop on Ruffnut, though, right?”

“I’m not gonna ask why you’d need to, so sure. Just don’t complain if she eavesdrops on you” Hiccup insisted. He wasn’t about to get involved in that mess. Besides, the twins had their own way of settling disputes.

Viggo craned his neck and added, “Now for your next assignment, you need to…take these empty bowls to the clubhouse kitchen without being seen.”

Tuffnut saluted. “I can do that! Give ‘em here” he said, sticking his hands through the open window. Hiccup let him take the dirty dishes away, and Tuffnut quickly looked left, then right, before slowly crouching out of view.

“I shouldn’t approve of that” Hiccup stated, fighting to keep a smirk of his face. Viggo grinned. “Astrid won’t be happy if your stealth training amounts to you tricking her into doing chores. You know that, right?”

“I’d have assumed Astrid wouldn’t need to be tricked in the first place.”

The door swung open at that point, and the woman herself walked in. She nodded good morning at Viggo, and told Hiccup “The prisoner is secure and Snotlout’s ready to go...what’s so funny?” she asked.

“Nothing. Okay, I’ll be right there. Just let me grab the letter about Viggo.” He went over to his work desk and found the sealed scroll, tucking it into his armour. “Thanks again for holding down the base whilst I’m gone.”

“What else is a second in command for?” she shrugged. “Besides, you’re taking Snotlout away from the twins, so there goes one avenue of chaos.” Hiccup laughed, and kissed her cheek. She pulled her boyfriend into a proper kiss, ignoring Viggo (it was none of his business) and let him go.

“Heh. I love you too. See you guys later!” Hiccup left with Toothless. It was only after he’d gone that Viggo realised his question hadn’t been answered. Yes, perhaps Hiccup had just forgotten, but maybe… _well played, my boy_ he thought, smirking inwardly to himself. _Well. Played._

* * *

“Hiccup Haddock the Third” Mala began, once she and Dagur had perused the letter. “Have you taken leave of your senses?” she demanded.

“No” he said firmly, ignoring Snotlout’s frantic nodding behind him. “I haven’t. Look, I know this might come as a shock, but everything I said in that letter is the complete truth” Hiccup insisted, gesturing to the scroll.

Dagur protested, “You were just kidding about the part where the Skrill is Viggo’s dragon, right?” When Hiccup just gave him a pointed stare, he spluttered. “But – but – she’s the _Skrill_! We have a special connection!”

“Special-? Dagur, you kept trying to capture and enslave her” Hiccup reminded him, “and it’s not my decision. Moonlight has _chosen_ Viggo.”

“Hiccup, he tried to have my sister executed! And he almost killed you!”

Hiccup folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Right, so you and he have something in common, then” he remarked to Dagur, who gaped at him.

“That – wow, Hiccup. That hurt. Come on, brother, I’ve _changed_.”

“And so has he!” Hiccup snapped, at the end of his patience. “If anyone should know what he’s going through, it’s _you_ , Dagur” he said pointedly.

Mala patted her betrothed’s arm sympathetically. “It’s not that we don’t trust your judgment” she told Hiccup, “it’s just…when it comes to a man like Viggo Grimborn, it pays to not let ones guard down. He’s…deceptive.”

Snotlout cut in. “That’s _exactly_ what I said. Hiccup even _admitted_ that Viggo might be in it for the King of Dragons, but he still trusts the guy!”

“Even if that were true, his best bet would be to work with us rather than against us” Hiccup reasoned. “And he can give us a fighting chance at finding the King of Dragons first. We can cross the potential bridge of him turning on us when we get to it. Which we won’t, because he’s changed.”

“Hiccup tell truth” insisted Toothless. “Dragons can-sense. Viggo change.”

Mala looked thoughtful. “If you _and_ the dragons are vouching for him, then perhaps the man really has changed. I’ll reserve judgement, for now, even if I’m not exactly…thrilled with this arrangement” she admitted.

Hiccup sighed in relief. “Thank you, Mala. I appreciate that. If it puts your mind at ease, I was hoping you could spare a few of your people to help us guard the Edge from – well, assassins, like the prisoner we brought here.”

“Oh, of course” she agreed. “I’ll have Throk send you only our best.”

“I’ll help with the vetting process!” Dagur said eagerly. “And, um…what you said, about me knowing how Viggo feels…I mean, if he’s really changed, I guess you’re not entirely wrong” he admitted reluctantly. “I guess the least I could do is give him a chance. But I swear, if there’s even the tiniest _hint_ of betrayal from him – you _know_ that I hate traitors.”

Hiccup wasn’t worried; after all, Dagur would have to get past Moonlight. “There, you see? Trust me, I’ve got everything under control” he declared.

* * *

Snotlout was beginning to think that his friends and allies had lost their minds. No sensible person would trust a man like Viggo Grimborn as far as they could throw him…Snotlout had never understood that expression, but that was besides the point! Sure, he believed that Viggo had taken arrows for Hiccup – he’d seen the evidence – but it didn’t mean that he –

“We’re here!” Hiccup called. He’d said there was something they needed to do before they went back to the Edge, and it was important Snotlout come. Had Hiccup explained what was going on? Of course not. _He’s turning as cryptic and cagey as his new best friend_ Snotlout thought irritably. _Pretty soon_ he’ll _be the one playing mind games with us for fun._

Looking down at the nondescript forested island beneath them, he shouted back “Looks boring! What are we even doing here, Hiccup?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t listen! Come on!” Hiccup beckoned. He and Toothless dived down towards the island, as Hookfang hovered above.

“You know Hooky, we don’t _have_ to” – Snotlout began, before his dragon snorted impatiently and followed Toothless. “Okay, fine, I guess we do!”

The dragons landed in a clearing, and their riders dismounted. “I swear, if you don’t tell me what’s going on…” Snotlout trailed off, eyes widening as he spotted a ballista over Hiccup’s shoulder. “Trap!” he cried, unsheathing a sword as Hookfang flamed up. “Come out and fight, dragon hunters!”

Hiccup just gave him a deadpan stare. “You done? Snotlout, there aren’t any dragon hunters here” he said firmly. Toothless said something in Dragonese to Hookfang, who immediately doused himself, embarrassed.

“Oh yeah? Then how do you explain that ballista right behind you?”

“It’s been there for over a month, it’s empty. Viggo built it” he said calmly.

“Wait, what? So this _is_ a trap.”

“It’s not a trap, Snotlout! You think I’d lead you into one?” Hiccup asked incredulously. “This is the island where Johann first betrayed Viggo, and a Monstrous Nightmare saved him. I want to find that dragon, so you can hear his side of the story and get proof that Viggo hasn’t been lying to us.”

“Why didn’t you just say that sooner?”

“If I told you what we were doing beforehand, you wouldn’t have come.”

_Oh great! Now he’s tricking me into doing things!_ Snotlout ignored the fact that he probably would have done exactly as Hiccup suspected. “So let me get this straight. You want us to search this island for a wild dragon, that might not even really exist, just so we can ask him ‘hey, did you happen to rescue a sleazy one eyed dragon hunter recently by any chance?’. Great!”

Hiccup wasn’t impressed. “Isn’t making fun of my peg enough for you?”

“I thought you didn’t want me to treat him any different?” Snotlout retorted. Hiccup decided the argument wasn’t worth it, and just sighed. They began to search for the Monstrous Nightmare; he explained what to look out for. The further they ventured into the caves, the more on edge Snotlout became. “I don’t think all this is that important, y’know, really.”

Hiccup replied “Yes, it is. We’re a team, and I don’t want us to be divided, all suspecting each other. You’re the one I need to convince the most.”

“We’re not divided. Who said we were?” Snotlout inquired rhetorically. “We’re united against a common enemy!”

“Yes, and that enemy is not Viggo. And I’m going to prove it.”

“Oh, for the love of Thor! Why is this so important to you?”

“Why is it so important to you?” Hiccup challenged. “You said you can’t let your guard down – why not? I mean, I know how you like to be right” –

“It’s not about being _right_ ” Snotlout huffed. “It’s about being _safe_. Johann played us for fools for years; I’m not falling for that again. You want to talk about us being divided? I don’t want Viggo to get into our heads and come between us. He’s already got _you_ acting like a skinnier version of _him_!”

“How do you figure that?” Hiccup demanded, but before his fellow rider could answer, Toothless growled. He was about to ask what was wrong, when the answer came round the corner, in the form of a grumpy looking Nightmare. All three dragons immediately went on the defensive, snarling at each other. Two of them burst into flames, and in the light Hiccup saw…

“Wait!” he exclaimed, “Toothless, back off. I think this is who we came for.” He approached the turquoise, yellow and red Nightmare slowly, igniting his dragon blade. The wild dragons’ slitted pupils widened. He sniffed towards the flaming sword cautiously, and pulled back in shock.

“Human like-kin?” he asked. “Make flame like Fire-Scale, how?”

Hiccup relaxed a bit; _thank you, Inferno._ “It’s a long story” he replied, “but err, can I ask you something? About a month ago, there would’ve been other humans here. Dragon hunters. You didn’t happen to find one of them trapped in these caves, did you? A human with a blind left eye?”

The Nightmare tilted his head in thought, trying to remember. “Yes. Found half blind human trapped, almost attacked. Human made flame like mine.”

This was going even better than Hiccup had anticipated. “And then what happened?” he asked, glancing at Snotlout. His cousin looked surprised.

“Human did-not attack. Looked scared, but did-not attack. Both of us not-make flame, just stare at each other. Half-Blind reached out, show-trust.”

Toothless crooned. “You save Half-Blind human?” he asked.

“Yes. Rainbow led Half-Blind out of caves. Not see since. He is alive?”

“Yeah, but he was injured soon after you rescued him. We’ve been healing him” explained Hiccup. _Viggo’s gonna have a field day when I tell him this guys name is Rainbow…then again I can’t talk._ He’d not mention the Half-Blind name. “Thanks for telling us. My friend here didn’t believe that human, so I figured he should hear it from you, instead. We’ll leave now.”

Once they were out of the caves again, Hiccup turned to Snotlout. “Well?”

“Okay, fine. You were right, he was telling the truth. Are you happy now?”

“Well, that depends. Are you going to quit suspecting Viggo of treachery no matter what he says or what proof you have?” Hiccup asked pointedly.

Snotlout rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it. Just because he was telling the truth about that Nightmare, doesn’t mean he’s gonna tell the truth now.”

“The funny thing is, Snotlout, that’s what Viggo is worried about too.”

“…Wait, what?”

“He told me before we left” Hiccup revealed. “He doesn’t trust himself. He doesn’t want to become the man he was before again, and he thinks it’s good that you don’t trust him because it means you can hold him back.” Hopefully Viggo would understand why he was revealing this information.

Snotlout looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Yeah, well…maybe he’s right to be worried! And if Viggo doesn’t want me to trust him, why do you keep trying to make me?”

“Because all this doubt and paranoia isn’t good for the team” Hiccup insisted, “and because Viggo needs us to teach him to be a better person. Pushing him away and acting like he’s not really on our side isn’t going to help with that.”

Snotlout tried and failed to find a fault with Hiccup’s logic. “I don’t want Viggo to change you!” he blurted out. “Teaching you strategy is one thing, but what if he tries to make you more like him? One of the best things about you is that you’re a shit liar, so we always know we can trust you!”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. “Gee, thanks. Snotlout, everything’s going to be fine. Trust me” he said meaningfully. “And as per our deal, you can rub my face in it as much as you want if something does go wrong.”

“…That does make me feel a bit better.”

Grinning, Hiccup put an arm around his cousin’s shoulders. “C’mon. Let’s head back to the Edge and get some lunch” he suggested. “I’m starving.”

“Oh, now you’re speaking my language!”

* * *

Back at the Edge, after lunch, Viggo suggested a game of Maces and Talons. Hiccup made the admittedly rookie mistake of letting his opponent make the first move, and quickly resorted to copying all of Viggo’s moves. It meant they kept reaching a stalemate, but on the other hand, Viggo kept having to use different tactics that Hiccup could steal for himself.

“So how did your mission go?” Viggo inquired during a lull. He was actually impressed that Hiccup had thought to try and force him to reveal new tactics, even if he was saving the best for last. “I assume it went well.”

“Yeah, better than I thought it would. Mala and Dagur agreed to give you a chance, even if they’re not totally on board with the whole thing” Hiccup explained, “and we did find that Nightmare you told me about. He confirmed your story…and uh, turns out his name is Rainbow.”

Viggo blinked. Their dragons grumbled as if offended. “Hiccup-Queen think Rainbow is silly name for Fire-Scale?” Moonlight demanded.

“No, I”-

“Hiccup think Toothless is-not silly name for Nightwing. If Hiccup give silly name, is fine. If _dragon_ give silly name…”

“Guys, it’s not like that” Hiccup protested, blushing. “I _like_ the name Rainbow. It suits him. And I’m from Berk, stupid names are our thing!”

Viggo smirked. “So you’re saying it is a stupid name. With all due respect, my boy, I’m not sure you’re in a position to judge” he teased. Hiccup rolled his eyes, and finally moved his piece. Viggo immediately took advantage of the opening to capture another of his playing pieces, much to his chagrin.

“I’d actually named him Saviour. Did he have a name for me?” 

“Uh…”

Toothless replied “Rainbow called you Half-Blind.” Hiccup shot him a pointed look, but Viggo didn’t seem to be offended. As opposed to Moonlight, who was bristling. “What? Is true. Not-mean offence.”

“None taken” Viggo said dismissively. “After all, I _am_ half blind. Did you manage to convince Snotlout?”

“Yeah…as much as I ever can. I, uh, kinda told him about what you said this morning” Hiccup admitted with a wince. “I’m sorry.”

“Whatever for?” Viggo looked genuinely confused. “You needed to tell him to change his mind, and it’s not like I ever said it was a secret.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say it wasn’t, either.”

The older man shrugged. “True. I’m not upset, though, if that’s what you’re worried about. Also, it’s your move” he reminded Hiccup.

_Oh, right._ Hiccup looked at the board and moved his piece, sacrificing it – then captured Viggo’s piece on his next move. “Ha!” he exclaimed, grinning. The excited smile was quickly wiped from his face when Viggo ended up surrounding his Honourable Viking Chief piece. “Damn it.”

Viggo chuckled. “Oh, Ragnvald would have had a field day with you.”

Despite knowing it was a distraction, Hiccup couldn’t help but ask, “Is that your grandfather?” He knew the senior Grimborn had taught Viggo to play.

“That’s right. He always won, back when I was as naïve as you are now.”

“Ha, ha” Hiccup deadpanned. As he struggled to think of a way out of this predicament, he found himself thinking it would be easier to just reach out and snatch the Marauder Chief piece right off the board. He snickered.

“Thought of a joke, have you?”

“No, I – I just remembered something. From when I was little. It’s stupid.”

“But apparently entertaining. Am I not allowed to ask what it is?”

Hiccup sighed. “It’s…when my dad first showed me this game, he told me the aim is to capture your opponents Chief, so I just…” he made a grabbing motion at thin air. “Dad thought it was funny, at least.”

Viggo quirked an eyebrow. “You just took the piece?”

“…In my defence, I was eight years old.”

“Oh, that’s adorable” Viggo grinned. “You must be tempted right now.”

Hiccup said primly, “Oh please. I’m not that immature.” He bit his lip and moved his Traitor, hoping to bait Viggo into putting his own pieces into a more compromising position. Unfortunately the man saw that coming, and just moved his Accomplice closer to the Honourable Viking Chief. _Come on, Hiccup, get your act together. Think ahead. How many moves are left?_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing, and he looked up. “Uh, sorry to interrupt your game” Snotlout said gruffly.

“It’s fine. What’s up?” Hiccup inquired. “And err, what’s with the sword?”

The top of a blade was visible above Snotlout’s head. He came closer and scuffed his boot on the floor. “So, look. I’ve been thinking about what you said, about him…and this doesn’t mean I _like_ you”, he warned Viggo, “or trust you, but if you were telling the truth about the Nightmare maybe the rest of it is true, and this is too big for me anyway, so just – here.”

He held the weapon out, and Viggo’s jaw dropped. “My sword…” he whispered, reaching out for it. Snotlout gave it to him. “Where did you…?”

“At the Northern Markets, in a cave full of treasure being guarded by a Sandbuster” explained Snotlout. “We have no idea how it got there.” 

Viggo swallowed hard. “This was my grandfather’s sword, bequeathed to me upon his death” he murmured, stroking the blade reverently. A single dark brown eye met two stunned blue ones. “Thank you for returning it.”

Snotlout hadn’t expected a reaction like that. “Y-You’re welcome” he stammered, backing away. “I’ll just…let you get back to your game. See ya, Hiccup.” With that, he fled, away from all these uncomfortable feelings. Viggo couldn’t blame him. Setting the sword aside with great care, he looked back at the Maces and Talons board, and did a double take.

When he wasn’t looking, Hiccup had moved to block his nearest piece. So he could pull a capture-and-sacrifice move, or…he shifted a different piece. Hiccup made to take the other one, hesitated, and countered with a move that put his own Accomplice at risk but blocked the Viking Chief.

Two moves later, and Hiccup still didn’t feel any closer to winning. “I don’t know why you can’t be merciful, for once” he groused as he moved again.

“I joined your side and stopped trying to kill you. Does that not count?”

“Not for this... Just put me out of my misery, why don’t you?”

His overdramatic plea just made Viggo snigger. “Ah, but then the game would end sooner, and where’s the fun in that? It’s so rare I get the chance to play against a worthy opponent…who isn’t just myself. Those two weren’t interested. You can’t imagine how bored I was, Hiccup.”

“I’m gonna choose to take that as a compliment” Hiccup decided. It didn’t help that Viggo was so good at predicting his moves, so he had to try and guess the man’s countermoves, but then Viggo probably already knew he’d do that. He was even using some of the tactics he’d picked up earlier in the game, and making a bit of progress, but not much. “It isn’t fair.”

“Most things aren’t” Viggo replied with a slight shrug. “Besides, you’re putting up a good fight. You haven’t lost yet, have you?” he asked, moving a piece to trap the one Hiccup was trying to edge towards his Marauder.

“That’s cos you’re drawing it out. You _did_ agree to the no torture rule.”

“I assumed you meant physical torture.”

“Okay, I should have been more specific. Can you at least give me a hint?”

Viggo didn’t know whether to laugh at the boy’s pout or tell him to stop sulking. If Ryker were there he’d probably be making fun of his – _stop it!_ His thoughts came to a screeching halt. _He’s not…it’s not_ him _. Stop it._

Hiccup leaned back slightly. “Uh, Viggo? Are you okay?”

He suddenly realised he was frowning, jaw clenched. Smoothing out his expression, he replied “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just…the pain, you know.”

“I can get you some medi”-

“I don’t need it” he insisted, “let’s just finish the game, shall we? Okay, I’ll give you _one_ hint. Up to you to interpret it. Try playing…against yourself.”

Hiccup was about to snark that he’d keep that in mind for next time, when it suddenly hit him. Viggo meant that literally _. Play against myself. What would I do if I were him?_ He thought of that, then of what he’d do to counter such a move, and what the countermove to _that_ would be.

Soon he was on the cusp of being in position to capture the Marauder Chief. Except that it was Viggo’s turn before that, and if he captured the closest piece, the other was too far away. Hiccup hesitated. He moved the further one closer, to act as bait, and Viggo…didn’t take it. A couple of moves later, and he’d captured the Honourable Viking Chief, and won.

Hiccup groaned and buried his head in his hands. Viggo cackled, and the dragons chortled as well. “Who’s side are you on?” he asked Toothless.

“On Hiccup’s side.” The dragon nuzzled him. “Hiccup not bad loser.”

Viggo grinned, amused. Hiccup glowered at him. “I was _this_ close! Couldn’t you have just let me win?”

“I could have, but it wouldn’t have been much of a victory, now would it?”

Hiccup sighed. “I guess not” he admitted. “And I did get pretty close.”

“You did. Really, your biggest mistake was trying to be _polite._ ” He went on in a higher pitched voice, “No, Viggo, you can go first! Really, I insist!”

That set the dragons off again. Hiccup folded his arms and glared. “I don’t sound like that” he said petulantly, “and I literally never said those words.”

“The point is, good manners have no place in battle, _or_ strategy” Viggo advised. “Think about it. If you and your friends encountered dragon flyers, would you wait for them to attack before trying to defeat them?”

When he put it like that, the answer was obvious – of course not. “Okay, I see your point.” Hiccup smiled ruefully. “Thanks for teaching me…even if your methods are frustrating. Now I have two mentors who think I need to learn from experience” he remarked, “but at least Gobber explained what to do _before_ he threw me in the deep end.” Viggo chuckled, and so did he.

* * *

A thunderstorm rolled in that night, after dinner. Moonlight was ecstatic; this was the Skrill’s kind of weather. The riders watched from their porches as she danced with Thor’s bolts, diverting them away from the base and towards the sea. There were buckets of water on standby in case a fire got started, but for now they could just sit back and enjoy the light show.

“She’s magnificent” Viggo breathed, admiring his dragons acrobatics. It was still strange to think that…Moonlight was _his_ dragon. Not because he’d captured her and forced her to obey him, but because she wanted to be. It was a far cry from the way he’d have treated her before. It felt strange…but good.

Hiccup agreed, “She sure is. You wanna be careful; Dagur’s really jealous.”

Viggo smirked. “Oh, I can imagine.” There was a particularly bright flash, and in the glow he saw Toothless flinch. “Are you alright, Toothless?”

The black dragon whimpered, cringing. “Not-like storms” he confessed. His rider stroked his head soothingly, and he burrowed into Hiccup’s arms.

“Yeah, we don’t really have the best experience with lightning” Hiccup admitted, “What with the whole ‘it’s attracted to metal’ thing. I mean, we’ll fly in storms if we have to, but it’s not really our favourite pastime.”

Grimacing, the older man replied “Yes, I can see why that would be a problem for you. It’s a shame, really; I was rather looking forward to fighting alongside you, but if my dragon would put yours at risk…”

“Oh, no, it’s fine” Hiccup assured him, “so long as we stay out Moonlight’s way when she’s firing…I mean, the same applies to any dragon. Oh, and I’m working on a way for you to ride her without getting struck yourself.”

“That’s comforting” he quipped. “Have you been hit by lightning before?”

“Once. That’s part of the reason Toothless isn’t keen on storms.” Hiccup explained, “We were still living on Berk, and I’d designed all these metal perches for the dragons, cos they were making the roofs collapse. Then storms began coming in, lightning was striking the village, and we didn’t understand why. A lot of the villagers…thought it was Toothless’ fault.”

“What?” Viggo frowned, sceptical. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Hiccup shrugged. “You know how Vikings are. It made sense to them; after all, Night Furies are the ‘offspring of lightning and death itself’. Mildew – this dragon hating old git – riled them all up, going on and on about how the gods were angry at us for taking in the dragons. They captured Toothless and tried to ship him off the island. We would have just _left_.”

The dragon in question crooned and nuzzled him. Hiccup smiled in spite of himself and continued, “I realised the lightning strikes were really being caused by the metal, and tried to prove it to everyone by…um, tying a spear to a mast. Just my luck, it gets hit when I’m still holding it. I blacked out, next thing I know I wake up in bed. Luckily I didn’t lose another foot.”

Viggo stared at him in disbelief. “Wait a minute. You got hit with a direct strike to the head, and you _survived_? You really are a hard person to kill.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot. On the bright side, I proved I was telling the truth. Everyone was so embarrassed. Toothless got plied with apology fish for days afterwards. I never really blamed them; they were just scared.”

The storm was dying off now, passing over them. With no more lightning bolts to absorb, Moonlight swept down to land on the decking outside Hiccup’s hut, purring with delight. Viggo found himself smiling. It was perhaps the first time for ages he had smiled because of someone else’s joy. “Hiccup? I, ah, I just realised…I never had a chance to say thank you.”

“You mean for the rescue?”

“That, and…everything else.”

“You’re welcome...and for what it’s worth, thank you for the same.”


	4. One of Us

Snotlout and the twins visited Wingmaiden Island. “Welcome, friends” Atali greeted them when they landed. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?” she inquired as the riders dismounted.

“It’s a long story” Snotlout replied, “Hi Minden.” She smiled at him and he grinned back at her, before rummaging in Hookfang’s saddlebag, taking out a scroll, and walking over to them. “We might as well break the news to you up front. You know Viggo Grimborn?”

“I know of him” Atali nodded, “He works with Johann and Krogan.”

Tuffnut revealed “Not anymore! They betrayed him so he got Hiccup to help betray them and he also got help from the Skrill who’s now Viggo’s dragon because he took arrows for Hiccup and her but then Hiccup rescued him and now he’s on our side and a Dragon Rider.” 

Atali and the other Wingmaidens stared at Tuffnut in disbelief. Ruff helpfully insisted “It’s true! So, how’s Wingnut been?” she asked.

Snotlout handed her the scroll. “Hiccup wrote that to explain everything; and believe me, I’m sceptical” he told her, “but the others all agreed to this idea. Besides, Hiccup and I found the Monstrous Nightmare that Viggo claims saved him from Johann’s first try at getting rid of him, and turns out _that_ story’s true, so….”

Atali unfurled the scroll and began to read, frowning. Snotlout turned to Minden. “It’d be a shame to come all this way and not spend time with my favourite Wingmaiden” he winked at her, and she blushed. “How about you and I go for a flight on Hookfang? Not near the nesting grounds, heh. I’ve learned _that_ lesson” he quipped.

“Atali?” she asked her leader, “can I keep Snotlout company?”

“Hm? Oh, yes” Atali replied, distracted. “By all means. Have fun.”

Ruffnut commented “You might wanna send someone with ‘em.”

“No you don’t!” Snotlout said quickly, “because we’re both mature, and we don’t need anyone keeping an eye on me- us! Right, Min?”

She blinked in surprise, and replied “No, I’m sure we’ll be fine. Come on, there’s a place I’d love to show you” she smiled at Snotlout. He grinned back and gestured for her to lead the way; when she flew up, he quickly swung himself into Hookfang’s saddle to follow her.

Ruffnut watched them go with a smirk. She _would_ have mentioned Hiccup’s instructions to give them a chaperone, but this would be a great chance to practice her stealth skills…without getting interrupted by assassins. She turned to her brother, but Tuffnut was distracted, cooing over Wingnut who was climbing around on him.

“I’m not really sure what to make of this” Atali confessed, having read the letter from Hiccup. “I never met Viggo Grimborn, but is this man not a known manipulator and double crosser?” she questioned.

Before Snotlout could agree with her, Tuff said “Yeah, but those guys double-crossed him, so now he’s helping _us_ double cross _them_.”

Ruffnut added “He’s been teaching us ambush skills! Which is cool. But then he set Astrid to tail us, which wasn’t” she added, scowling.

“Turns out that Vigster’s actually a pretty fun guy to hang out with, now that he’s not trying to kill us” Tuffnut remarked blithely. Atali, for her part, looked from one twin to the other in dubious confusion.

* * *

Minden led Snotlout to the cliff above a secluded fjord on the far side of the island. “This is one of my favourite places” she told him, after Hookfang had landed and he’d climbed down. “You can’t see it now, of course, but there’s a lovely view of the sunset from here.”

 _Ooh, romantic_ Snotlout thought gleefully. “Y’know, I can see a lovely view right now” he flirted, eyeing her appreciatively. Minden blushed softly and looked away, fiddling with her armour. _Oops. Too fast._ “Hey, uh, we’ve got a great view of the sunset back on Berk too” he told her. “Guess that’s just another thing we have in common, huh?”

“I guess you’re right” she mused. “So, tell me more about this whole Viggo thing” Minden prompted, “did you really give him sanctuary?”

This was the last thing Snotlout wanted to talk about. “It wasn’t me, it was Hiccup. He loves bringing home strays. Never mind that, I wanna talk about _us_ ” he told her, with his most winning smile.

Minden looked surprised. “Us?” she repeated, “What do you mean?”

“It’s okay, babe, you don’t have to play hard to get” Snotlout assured her. “We’re alone together; if you don’t wanna talk that’s _fine_.” He leaned in with his lips puckered up, expecting her to kiss him back.

Instead, her next words felt like a bucket full of ice water had been dumped down the back of his tunic. “Snotlout, what are you doing?”

Snotlout opened his eyes and stared at her, hurt. _Not again. How can I be getting rejected again?!_ “Nothing!” he blurted out, “I wasn’t, uh, doing anything. I mean I was but – okay, look. I’m gonna be honest. You like that, right? And err, if I am being honest…Minden, I _like_ you. As in, more than a friend, like you. I- I thought you liked me back!”

“I _do_ like you, Snotlout” Minden assured him, “you’re honest and brave and clever…I’m sorry. I think I’ve messed everything up, again” she berated herself. Snotlout gaped at Minden. Her Razorwhip fledgling nudged her and cooed. Minden smiled and stroked the little one’s head. “Thanks, Silverwing. I know _you_ don’t think so.”

“Um, yeah, really confused over here” announced Snotlout, “what have you messed up? If anyone’s messed up it’s _me_. I came on too strong, didn’t I? It’s just that, between the kiss and showing me this place, which you gotta admit is pretty romantic – right, Hooky?”

His dragon’s gaze was hooded. “Hookfang is-staying out of this.”

Snotlout glared indignantly, but then Minden spoke. “That’s just it. I’ve never…this is all new to me” she confessed shyly. “It’s not that I don’t like you, or want to be with you…but I took an _oath_. To help save these Razorwhips alongside my fellow Wingmaidens. I can’t just give that up. _You_ made me realise that, Snotlout” she smiled warmly.

 _Oh, great, now I’m blocking myself_ he thought. “Yeah…I mean, I get that. Wouldn’t want you to break your oath” he agreed, that wouldn’t end well. “But you were gonna quit before, couldn’t you – I mean you’re only one Wingmaiden, it’s not like you’d be missed.”

Minden frowned in dismay, and he realised he’d stuck his foot in his mouth. “You think they don’t need me?” she asked, sounding hurt.

“What? No! Of course they need you” he insisted, “you’re one of Atali’s best warriors! What I said was dumb. So…so that’s it? You’re saying we can’t make this work, at all. I get that you have the whole ‘no guys allowed’ rule, but couldn’t we at least visit each other?”

She gave him a smile and replied “I’ll talk to Atali. Maybe there is some way we can work this out. I just want to put my oath first.”

To call him disappointed would be an understatement; but even Snotlout knew that an oath wasn’t something to be taken lightly. “I understand. I’m not saying I _like_ it, but I understand. So, uh…If it doesn’t work out, we can still be friends, right?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course” she nodded. “So, what else d’you want to talk about?”

* * *

Astrid and Fishlegs visited Heather. When she heard the news, her response was thus: “Has Hiccup lost his Odin-forsaken mind?!”

Her best friend calmly answered, “Honestly, sometimes I wonder.”

“Oh, come on. Hiccup hasn’t lost his mind, you two” Fishlegs insisted, feeling the need to establish that on his friend and leaders behalf.

Heather demanded “Then how do you explain him deciding to give sanctuary to Viggo Grimborn, of all people? May I remind you that man was going to have me executed, he’s hurt hundreds of dragons, and until recently was working with our worst enemies?” she ranted.

Fishlegs stood resolute. “They betrayed him, Heather. He took arrows for Hiccup – I know, I took them out of him. Viggo’s been recovering for almost two months now; he hasn’t hurt anyone.”

“How long until he does?” Heather questioned. “Until he gets bored of playing the good guy? A dragon can’t change its scales, Fishlegs.”

Astrid quipped “except Changewings”, in an attempt to lighten the mood. It fell flat, and she mentally kicked herself for the bad timing.

“You mean people don’t change” Fishlegs clarified. “Heather, you know that’s not true. Dagur changed, didn’t he? So did Alvin, and heck, the whole of Berk changed when we made peace with the dragons. Why couldn’t Viggo have changed too?” he questioned.

“It’s true” Astrid revealed. “I’m not sure about him either, but he _did_ save Hiccup’s life, and Moonlight’s – she’s his Skrill. He didn’t have to do that. He even apologised to me for what he’s done. I think he’s _trying_ to change, at least. Mind you, he hasn’t changed much. He’s still _really_ condescending.” Especially to Hiccup, which irked her.

Heather still wasn’t sure about this. She knew that she could trust her friends, but who was to say they weren’t being deceived? Fishlegs did have a point about her brother changing his ways…could the same really be said for a man who made a hobby out of manipulating people? “Fishlegs, do you think he’s trying to change?”

“Yeah, I do” Fishlegs admitted. “I’ve been helping him heal from his injuries and he told me one time, he’s not accustomed to that. To being helped just because it’s the right thing to do. He’s been feeling guilt over the things he’s done, as well.” He opted not to mention that Viggo hadn’t realised this fact until the emotion was explained.

Still, it gave Heather pause. “I guess if he’s incapacitated for now, there’s not much harm he can do” she reasoned. “I’m still gonna come and meet this new reformed Viggo Grimborn myself, mind.”

“That’s fine” Astrid smiled. “You know you’re always welcome.”

“Thanks, Astrid. Oh, by the way; I’m going to visit my father’s grave on Vanaheim again soon. I might come see you guys after that.”

* * *

Almost all of their allies knew of the change to the status quo, except Berk. Hiccup knew all too well how stubborn his father could be, and wasn’t exactly looking forward to the man’s reaction. Neither was Viggo. “If anyone is going to come here and confront me it’s Stoick; and I’d rather be able to stand on my own two feet when he does.”

Hiccup sympathised with the desire to not be vulnerable, but he knew this had to be done. “My dad’s already going to be upset that I waited this long to tell him” he pointed out. “Besides, it’s not like he’s gonna burst in here and challenge you to a holmgang, after all.”

“Perhaps not, but he has ample reason to have me imprisoned.”

“He won’t do that either” Hiccup shook his head, “I won’t let him. I know my dad can be boar-headed at times, but he’s not _completely_ unreasonable. Everything’s going to be fine, Viggo. Trust me.”

 _Trust me._ Now those were loaded words for Viggo; it had been drilled into him from childhood, _trust no one. Everyone has their own agenda._ Yet he also knew that Hiccup was truly a man of his word, whose agenda really was just…helping him. As a…friend? “Okay” he agreed quietly, before asking “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“I want to make another attempt to get their Dragon Eye and lenses, which means they won’t be able to find the King of Dragons. Of course, it would be easier if we knew where Johann kept them.”

Viggo replied “If I knew where it was I’d tell you, but I don’t. Johann has no doubt moved the Eye and lens to a more secure location, and whilst I am very good, even I can’t read minds” he said sarcastically.

“Uh, Viggo? That’s not what I was gonna ask” Hiccup told him, and he actually looked embarrassed. “You know how you said there are men working for Johann who might still be loyal to you?” Viggo nodded. “D’you think they’d be willing to feed us information about where the Dragon Eye and lenses have been hidden by Johann?”

“To be our Accomplice, as it were” Viggo commented, looking thoughtful. “It’s a good strategy. Efficient, low risk – for you, at least. You might even be able to convince them to do the stealing for you. I don’t suppose you have any gold?” he inquired, mock-hopefully.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “You know actually, we don’t” he snarked, “and besides, I don’t want them to steal the Dragon Eye for us.”

“You mean because they could betray you all to Johann.”

“No. I mean sure, but I can’t ask them to risk their lives for our sake.”

That raised an eyebrow. “You already are” Viggo retorted. “If Johann catches them turning traitor, he’ll have them executed, and it won’t be pretty. Seeing as you suggested the idea, either you’ve become more ruthless overnight or you haven’t considered all the angles; and whilst I’d prefer to imagine it’s the former…” he trailed off.

Hiccup sighed. “That wasn’t the plan. If they could get us a message, give us a clue, anything – then we could get them out of harms way when we came to steal the lens and Dragon Eye” he explained. “But then we might as well do a full assault and ‘go in, dragons blazing’. Finding the Eye would be a cinch if we’d captured the island first.”

 _Typical Viking solution – when in doubt, attack._ “Come now, you know as well as I do that Johann would see that coming a mile off” Viggo reminded him. “Unless, of course, the assault was just a distraction; but even then, you’d still have to find the Dragon Eye.”

Hiccup answered “I know, which is why having someone on the inside would be helpful. Can you think of anyone who might be willing to find out where it is and defect to us?” he asked hopefully.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Viggo considered it and finally said “There is one man. His name is…Trygge Arnuldson, I believe. He’s the one who helped me retrieve the Dragon Eye from the volcano, and I stopped him from falling into the lava. He owes me a life debt now.”

Hiccup’s eyebrows were raised. “You saved this guys life?” he asked, “What happened to ‘people are expendable game pieces’, then?”

Viggo looked unimpressed. “I needed his help. I wouldn’t sacrifice a piece I still planned to use to achieve victory” he retorted. However, the boy was unfazed and just started smirking at him. “I didn’t _care_ about the man; it just wasn’t worth replacing him. I’d already sent down three men and only one of them came back!” he snapped.

The smile on Hiccup’s face grew wider. “I knew it. I _knew_ it! Deep down under that ruthless exterior…you _do_ care about your men.”

“I do not” Viggo protested indignantly, glaring. “I told you, saving Trygge’s – that man’s life was purely a tactical manoeuvre.”

“ _Sure_ it was.” Hiccup just kept grinning. The dragons were purring.

“I only learned his name in case I needed him to repay the debt!”

“Uh-huh” Hiccup deadpanned. “You know, you can just admit you were kind to the guy. It’s not like I’m gonna judge you for it” he pointed out. Viggo opened his mouth, closed it again, and looked away. “Wait. Do you think I _would_?” Hiccup asked incredulously. “Hi, my name’s Hiccup Haddock the Third, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Rolling his eyes, the older man retorted “very funny. I didn’t think _you’d_ judge me, it’s just – this is the sort of thing that one doesn’t admit to” he tried to explain, “feelings of…mercy, compassion…”

“Right, because it’s not _Viking_ enough. You sound like my uncle” Hiccup remarked. “Spitelout once said mercy is for the weak, too. I asked him if that meant he wouldn’t want an enemy to take mercy on him and spare his life. He looked like he’d just drank saltwater.”

Viggo frowned. “ _Showing_ mercy isn’t weak…necessarily” he replied; after all, that was the reason he was still alive. “But admitting to it? You might as well be asking to get manipulated” Viggo insisted. “If your enemy knows you feel mercy, they’ll take advantage of that.”

“You mean like you did” Hiccup retorted calmly. “Or…are doing?”

Moonlight hissed, defensive as ever. Viggo somehow looked both impressed and appalled at once. “You’re…still on guard. Excellent.”

“That’s not what I asked” said Hiccup. “Are you taking advantage of us?” he questioned. “Look me in the eye and tell me the truth.”

Glaring at him, Viggo replied “I _could_ be. You’d never know.”

“The truth, Viggo” he repeated sternly. “It’s a yes or no question.”

Hiccup’s eyes were blazing. Toothless sat watchfully behind him. Viggo wet his lips and asked, “What will you do to me if I say yes?”

“Nothing. You’re still healing. Once you are …I’d lock you up, I suppose” Hiccup shrugged. “But you know what I think? I think the answer is no, you’re _not_ taking advantage of us, but you’ve gotten so used to never letting anyone in that you can’t bring yourself to admit it. I understand. Telling the truth is frightening, sometimes” he said.

At first Viggo glared indignantly…then his shoulders slumped, and he sighed. “No, I’m not taking advantage of you” he admitted at last. Hiccup had seen right through him; part of him was impressed, another part unnerved. _Truth and trust are weapons. They can be turned against you._ Advice he’d lived his whole life by, but now…

Hiccup smiled warmly. “Thanks for being honest with me” he said, “I know it’s hard, but…you don’t have to hide anymore.” Toothless and Moonlight crooned reassuringly. Viggo stared at him, mouth dry.

At that moment, Astrid ran in. “Hiccup! Your dad’s coming, with _Spitelout_ ” she reported.

What?” He stood up quickly and wavered. “Coming here?”

“No, to Dark Deep. Of course they’re coming here! Do you think they found out somehow?” she wondered. “From someone else?”

“They might just be coming to visit us…I’ll come talk to them.”

* * *

Soon after Hiccup had gone, a hand wrapped over Viggo’s good eye, turning everything black. “Good morning, Ruffnut” he said calmly.

There was a scuffling sound, and a nasally voice whined “Aw, come on! How’d you know it was me?” She climbed through the window.

“I didn’t until you told me” he smirked at her. It was a fifty-fifty chance of being one of the twins, and he’d just taken a gamble.

Ruffnut groaned. “Damn it. You’re _good._ But you didn’t see me coming, did ya?” she asked triumphantly, smirking right back at him.

“True” he conceded, “but in my defence, I was…distracted.” 

“Yep, getting a Hiccup Lecture will do that to you” Ruff nodded sympathetically. “That guy always knows what to say. It’s creepy. Tuff thinks it’s because he’s a wizard, but _I_ think he can secretly read minds. Is that why you like him? Cos you can read minds as well?”

Viggo blinked. For a moment all he could think was _what?_ “Hiccup made a rule against eavesdropping outside each other’s huts.”

“Did he? Never told me.”

“He told your brother.”

She gave him a flat look. “You thought Tuff would tell me? And you think _we’re_ naïve.” Viggo didn’t know whether to be insulted or not.

He heard the buzz of Gronckle wings, and then Fishlegs appeared in the doorway. “Good mor-agh!” Fishlegs spluttered as a pile of raw fish was dumped on him. Ruffnut cackled gleefully, and Tuffnut jumped down from the roof, almost slipping on the fish. “Urgh!”

“Loki’ed!” Tuffnut cheered. “Oh, man. You oughta see the look on your face, Legs. It is _furious_. Oh, hey Vigster. Whaddya think?”

His sister commented, “That ones a classic. We wanna try it on our enemies, but with knives or something. Maybe Changewing acid.”

Meatlug started eating the fish, inviting Moonlight to join her. As the dragons helpfully cleaned up the mess, Fishlegs scrubbed at his hair and complained “Would it _kill_ you two to be mature for once?”

“Uh, maybe. If it does, our deaths would be on your head” said Tuff.

“It’s not our fault you let your guard down. We’ve got to be _vigilant_!”

“Obviously, I mean anything could happen. Dragon flyer attack.” 

“Volcano erupting.”

“Freak hurricane” Ruffnut said airily. She turned to a thoroughly bewildered Viggo and asked “So now what? Give us another mission, oh teacher. Snotlout’s on patrol, so we could steal something from his hut if you want. He won’t notice. We’ve nicked loads of his stuff.”

“Err…no, that – that won’t be necessary, I assure you” he replied. If he wanted to persuade Snotlout of his good intentions, sending the twins to rob the riders hut was the last thing Viggo ought to do.

She shrugged. “Suit yourself. Ooh, what if we steal from Fishlegs?”

“Guys, I’m right here!”

“Yeah, which means you’re not at your hut. Oh, but now there’s all those ninjas around we have to sneak past as well” Ruffnut scowled.

“That just makes the task more _challenging_ , Sister-Nut” declared Tuffnut, “and the reward for success even more satisfying.”

“Good point. Come, Brother-Nut, let us away. Tally-ho!” The twins galloped off, literally, to get up to mischief elsewhere on the Edge.

Fishlegs sighed in relief. “I am so, _so_ sorry you had to hear that.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but the twins don’t seem…all there.”

“Huh? Oh, the twins aren’t crazy. At least I don’t _think_ they are. They’re just weird. You’ll learn to tune them out eventually. Right then!” He clapped his hands together, “Let’s get started, shall we?”

* * *

Skullcrusher and Kingstail landed on the platform. Stoick and Spitelout dismounted. Hiccup and Astrid were waiting for them. “Hello, son!” the chief of Berk greeted cheerfully. “Good to see you. How’re things out here on the edge of civilisation? Ha! You get it? The edge?”

“Ha, ha, yeah,” Hiccup laughed awkwardly, “clever. Uh, what brings you to the Edge? Not that I’m not happy to see you!” he said quickly.

Stoick shrugged. “Ah, Gobber kept pestering me to take a break, so we decided we’d come pay our intrepid explorer sons a visit.”

“Aye” agreed Spitelout. “Where is that cousin of yours, anyway?”

Hiccup explained “He’s on patrol on the far side of the island. You can probably catch up with him, actually.” His hope was to get Spitelout elsewhere before breaking the news to his dad. Telling Stoick about Viggo was one thing; telling his uncle was another.

“I’ll see him when he gets back. So how are things going against Johann?” asked Spitelout. “Any closer to kicking that traitor’s ass?”

 _So much for that idea._ Hiccup decided to just rip the bandage off. “The funny thing is, I was actually coming to visit Berk today. To, uh, report on some new changes that have happened recently” he said.

Stoick looked intrigued. “Oh? Tell us all about it, then” he prompted.

Hiccup took a deep breath. “Krogan and Johann turned on Viggo and tried to kill him but a Monstrous Nightmare saved him so he likes dragons now and he got me to help double cross them and took arrows for me and the Skrill and she’s his dragon now and he’s on our side.” At the end of his little spiel, Hiccup panted and coughed.

Stoick said nothing, but his eye twitched. Spitelout on the other hand… “Viggo has the Skrill?!” he demanded. “The one that nearly sent me t’ Valhalla too early? You better have a good explanation!”

Astrid interjected “He _did_ explain. But if you want it more slowly, Johann betrayed Viggo so he tried to get Hiccup and the Skrill’s help in exacting revenge. Ended up taking arrows for them; he’s been recovering here on the Edge ever since, and he agreed to our terms.”

At last, Stoick asked “How long ago did this happen, exactly?”

“Uh…about two months?” Hiccup offered sheepishly.

“Two months” Stoick repeated, with a stern frown. “So why am I only hearing about this _now_?” he demanded. “Instead of immediately?”

Hiccup winced. “I should’ve told you sooner” he admitted. “I’m sorry. There just wasn’t a good time. Don’t worry though, it’s all fine.”

“Oh, aye, except for the part where you let Viggo Grimborn into your midst!” Spitelout scoffed. “That man oughta be locked up in a cell!”

“After everything he’s done to us, son, how could you even think of”-

Losing patience, Hiccup snapped “What part of ‘he took arrows for me’ was unclear? I didn’t see you complaining this much when Alvin reformed, or Dagur. Dad, the dragons can sense sincerity, and they all say Viggo has changed. Isn’t that right, bud?” he asked Toothless.

“Yes. Is-true” the Night Fury replied, speaking slowly because Stoick wasn’t that fluent in Dragonese and Spitelout Jorgenson even less so.

There was a long pause, and then Stoick sighed. “Well. I suppose if they’re _all_ vouching for him…where is Viggo now?” he questioned.

“Uh, in my hut – but he doesn’t want to see you!” Hiccup blurted.

Stoick’s eyes narrowed. “And why not?”

“Well, it’s really more like he doesn’t want you to see him. He’s injured…and he’s worried that you’re going to imprison him.”

There was another awkward silence. “I’m err, I’m gonna find Snotlout and let him know his dad’s here” Astrid declared, heading back over to Stormfly. Hiccup felt betrayed. What happened to having his back? Then he realised that his dad and uncle were mounting up as well, about to fly to his hut and confront Viggo.

Panicked, he vaulted into the saddle and Toothless flew to land outside the closed door, blocking the way. “You’re not getting past.”

“Hiccup, don’t be ridiculous. Stand aside” Stoick said impatiently.

Toothless stubbornly didn’t move. “Dad, I get that you don’t trust a Viggo, but you trust _me_ , don’t you? Why can’t you just believe me?”

“I’m not going to hurt the man. I just want to talk. Ask questions.”

Desperate, Hiccup insisted “I promised I wouldn’t let you bother him.” He stood his ground, bracing himself, when the door to his hut started opening from the inside. Toothless yipped in surprise and moved out of the way at last. Fishlegs was standing by the door mechanism, looking sheepish. Viggo was leaning against Moonlight.

“Sorry, Hiccup. He said it was alright” Fishlegs explained, gesturing to Viggo. Stoick walked in, looking at the man who had threatened his son and his village and their dragons…and at the Skrill beside Viggo, who mantled a protective wing over the man, looking suspicious.

“It’s okay, Moonlight” her rider murmured, without a trace of his usual arrogance. Viggo wore a makeshift eyepatch, but his good eye looked nervous. “Stoick” he greeted, eye flicking over to Spitelout.

The chief of Berk gave a curt nod. “Viggo. I’ve just heard from Hiccup about our enemies betraying you. That’s two more allies who’ve turned on you, then” he noted. The former dragon hunter flinched.

“That…that’s right” Viggo agreed. “They tried to trap me in a cave, but a Monstrous Nightmare spared my life and showed me another way out. That…made me rethink a lot. When Hiccup and his friends healed me and offered me a place on – on their team…I accepted.”

Stoick and Spitelout looked at one another,. “You took arrows for my son” the former remarked. “I’m grateful, but I have to ask…why? A man like you never struck me as the self-sacrificing type” said Stoick.

Hiccup protested “Does it really matter? He didn’t _have_ to do it.”

“A few months ago I would have agreed with you, Stoick…but at the time I thought I was a dead man walking. Besides, your son…is one of the most honourable young men I’ve ever met” Viggo declared solemnly. “It would have been a loss for everyone if he’d perished.”

His confession left them all stunned. Finally, Spitelout blustered “Then why did they wanna betray you in the first place? And how do we know you’re not gonna do the same thing to us?” he demanded.

Viggo explained, “My guess is that the two of them decided I wasn’t delivering well enough on getting the lenses to find the King of Dragons. Or they were afraid that I’d…well, do the same thing you’re worried about. As for how you know I won’t betray you all…I know I can’t prove it, but I swear on my life I have no intention of doing so.”

“Dad, he could have betrayed me several times that night, but he didn’t” Hiccup insisted. “Viggo can help us. Do you think Moonlight would still be here if she wasn’t completely sure he was genuine?”

It was hard to argue with that. Stoick thought hard, then sighed, and held out a hand to shake. “Welcome to the good side” he remarked, “and remember, I’m holding you to that oath” Stoick warned sternly.

“I understand” Viggo nodded, “and…I’m sorry. For what I’ve done.”

Stoick gave a nod. “Apology accepted, for now. Well then, I’ll let you get back to your recovery. C’mon, son; you can tell me all about what else has been happening around here” he said pointedly, steering Hiccup out of the room. Spitelout tried to protest, but Stoick cut him off. “We’ll discuss this later. Go on and spend time with _your_ son.”

* * *

Hiccup invited Viggo to eat with them at the clubhouse that night. “Moonlight could carry you” he suggested. The Skrill obligingly crouched down so her rider could climb on. He did so gingerly, holding onto her spines as she rose slowly and started to walk.

When they got to the clubhouse, Snotlout was sharpening a hand ax, Ruffnut was playing tug of war with a Night Terror and Tuffnut was feeding grain to a family of chickens…one of whom was apparently, inexplicably, named Chicken. “Fluffnut, stop pecking at your sister! Aww, I can’t stay mad at you. Who’s the cutest little chick-chick?”

Viggo dismounted, and Hiccup helped him into a chair. Fishlegs was serving up vegetables and roast pork. “Hey guys” said Astrid as she walked in, looking windswept, having been on patrol. Hiccup, ever the gentleman, pulled out a chair for her, and she gave him a kiss.

Snotlout gagged. “You two do know you’re in public, right?”

“You do know that jealousy isn’t a good look for you, right?”

“Oh, _please._ Astrid, I am so over you” declared Snotlout, jabbing his fork at her. “I am more over _you_ than Tuffnut is over Macy.”

“Oi! Too soon!” Ruffnut protested, as her brother started to sniffle.

Rolling his eyes, Snotlout went on “Point is, I just wanna keep my dinner down. And I bet the last thing Viggo wants to see is you two being so disgustingly… _you_.” Hiccup and Astrid merely stared at him.

“I don’t mind” Viggo said amicably, “In fact I think it’s rather sweet. Young love and all…so, when’s the wedding?” he asked curiously.

Astrid replied “Uh, we haven’t planned anything yet…but soon.”

“Yeah, sometime in between now and whenever the next dragon hunting lunatic turns up” Hiccup said candidly, and they all laughed.

Well, almost all of them. “Tuff, quit crying. It’s been a year” Snotlout said callously. _It must have been a really bad breakup_ thought Viggo.

“Can you at least try to be sensitive?” Astrid questioned. “You know how he felt about Macy.”

“Astrid, it was a _mace_ ” he retorted, thus dispelling Viggo’s first assumption. “It’s not my fault Tuffnut was too attached to it.”

“Hey” Tuff scowled. “Macy had more of a soul than you _ever_ will.”

“Had a better personality, too” snarked Ruffnut, grinning. Snotlout looked like he wanted to punch one or both of the twins in the face.

“Guys please” Hiccup cut in, exasperated. “You can bicker all you want _after_ dinner, okay?” At the reminder of food, the three of them settled down, even if they were shooting each other dirty looks.

Halfway through dinner, Snotlout asked “Hey Viggo, can you cook?"

“Yes, I can. As a matter of fact, I know some really good recipes.”

“Ooh. D’you think you could make them?” Fishlegs asked eagerly.

“Getting the ingredients is the hard part; some of them are foreign dishes” explained Viggo. He inquired of Snotlout, “Why d’you ask?”

“Just checking. Oh, and fair warning – never eat anything the twins offer you. Or drink anything Astrid offers you, unless it’s water.”

Astrid glared indignantly. “And if you want food that isn’t burned to a crisp, don’t eat anything Snotlout offers you” she retorted.

“…I’ll, err, keep that in mind.”

“Okay, my turn” declared Tuff. “Uh, let me think…Ruffnut, how often do you shave your leg hair?”

Everyone made noises of disgust. “Guys, we’re _eating_ ” Astrid protested. “Why would you even ask something like that?”

“Wait, so we’re not playing the ‘ask someone else at the table a random personal question’ game?” Tuffnut asked blithely. “That’s boring. I’m bored. What do you think, my fine feathered friend?” he asked his pet bird. Chicken clucked. “She’s bored too” he announced.

Ruffnut grinned maliciously. “I can help with that!” she offered, and then she whacked him in the head with his own helmet. “Another one?”

“Urgh…yeah, harder. I wanna see double!” he insisted. She bashed him again and he almost slumped into his food. “Ah, that’s the stuff” he slurred. Viggo hesitated, noticed that everyone else – even the dragons – were ignoring the pair, and went back to his own meal.

Afterwards, the dishes were cleared away and Astrid strong-armed Snotlout – literally – into helping her with the washing up. “Thanks” she smiled, like she hadn’t just been twisting his arm behind his back.

“Don’t mention it, really. Just give me a minute to put my shoulder back in its socket” he groused, rubbing his sore arm. “So, uh. Viggo.”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering…if you were Ryker’s _little_ brother, how come you ended up in charge and he didn’t?”

Viggo had resolved to be more honest with the riders; now was as good a time as any to practice. “Our father died when I was thirteen” he explained, “so until we came of age, our grandfather led the tribe. He’d chose me as his successor, and convinced Ryker that being _my_ second would mean he still had power but fewer responsibilities.”

Astrid frowned. “I doubt Ryker was okay with losing his birthright like that. It sounds like your grandfather was playing favourites to me.”

“He wasn’t pleased, but he had at least five years to come to terms with the fact” replied Viggo, “and it wasn’t just a matter of favouritism. Ragnvald believed that with his guidance, I could lead our tribe into prosperity, whereas Ryker…was a skilled dragon hunter, of course, but by no means a shrewd businessman.”

“See, that’s the other thing I don’t get’ remarked Snotlout. “You said if we sent you away you’d find somewhere to go…why not just go home? There must be, like, a village somewhere” he pointed out.

Viggo sighed heavily. “Yes, there is, but I can’t go back; not in disgrace. Not without my brother or my men” he pointed out. “Believe me, I don’t regret changing sides, but what you all see as a good, righteous thing…they would see as a betrayal. I’d get lynched.” 

Hiccup fiddled with his fork. “Not if you had back up. Like, say, a Skrill and a Night Fury…” he trailed off hopefully. Viggo chuckled. “I thought we’d found every village in the archipelago. Where’s yours?”

“It’s not in this archipelago. The village I grew up in is in the Faroe Islands, far south of here. Still not in what you’d call a _warm_ climate.”

Fishlegs inquired, “What kind of dragons are there?” 

“….Well, they _were_ the same kinds that are found on the Dragon Eye” Viggo said delicately. Fishlegs winced, realising his mistake.

Astrid wondered, “If your tribe isn’t from the archipelago, then how come the Dragon Eye and lenses were hidden way up here?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. To not tempt thieves, perhaps. I know I would have gone looking for them if they’d been closer to home” Viggo admitted. Something occurred to Hiccup, and his brow furrowed. The older man noticed and inquired, “Something wrong?”

“It’s just…if the lenses will lead us to the King of Dragons, and your tribe made the lenses…then your ancestors must have found the King first” he explained slowly. “And if they didn’t capture it then…”

“Just how dangerous _is_ this dragon?” Astrid finished, catching on.

It was a sobering thought, and they all went quiet, reminded of what was at stake. Snotlout commented, “Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll eat Krogan and Johann if they get to it first.” The tense moment was broken, but Hiccup was more certain than ever. They had to get the Dragon Eye and lenses away from Johann and Krogan – and soon.


	5. Set In Motion

True to her word, Heather visited the Edge. She was accompanied by her brother and his betrothed, both of whom also wanted to take the measure of this new Viggo Grimborn. Hiccup and Astrid greeted them on the landing strip. “It’s great to see you again so soon!” Astrid declared as she embraced Heather, even whilst Dagur clapped Hiccup on the back and remarked that he’d grown.

“No, I’m uh, pretty sure I’m still the same size as last time we met” Hiccup replied, “but err, never mind all that. Come on up to the clubhouse and rest, you’ve had a long journey” he invited. The other riders and dragons were waiting for them in the room when they arrived, including Viggo and Moonlight.

Even though they’d warned the Skrill about Dagur, she clearly wasn’t happy when she laid eyes on him. Much to Hiccup’s relief, she made no protest other than to narrow her eyes balefully and edge closer to her rider. There was a moment of supremely awkward silence as their guests stared at Viggo, and he looked cautiously back at them. Then Tuffnut asked, “Okay, so now what?”

“I think they’re trying to kill Viggo with a look” Ruffnut commented airily.

Hiccup insisted, “No one is trying to kill anyone – in this room, I mean” he added quickly, before the twins could comment on his choice of words. “Right. Okay. Uh, Viggo, is there anything you want to tell these guys?” he asked pointedly.

Viggo hesitated, almost seeming nervous. “I don’t think they’d believe me” he admitted, glancing at the riders leader. “Perhaps this isn’t such a good idea…”

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it that easily” Heather declared, striding forwards. She stopped in front of him, kept from being closer by the overprotective Skrill, and demanded “You want to tell us what, exactly?”

He swallowed hard, and glanced over at Fishlegs, who gave a tiny encouraging nod. “I’m…I’m sorry” Viggo answered. “For… what I did. Treating you and your brother as expendable, ordering you to be executed, stealing the Eruptodon...”

Heather’s brow furrowed. “So that’s it. After everything you did, everything you put us through, the best you can say is you’re sorry?” she asked incredulously.

“What else do you want me to say, Heather?” questioned Viggo “Or do?”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Dagur tried to helpfully suggest, “You could always try grovelling on your knees and _begging_ for forgiveness.”

Hiccup interrupted, “He doesn’t need to do that.” Turning to his friend, he implored her, “Heather, I know you’re upset, but can’t you be reasonable?”

“Excuse me?” she said indignantly. “I _am_ being reasonable, Hiccup. After what he’s done, it’s completely reasonable to not trust this guy!” Heather declared.

“She does have a point” Astrid remarked.

“Wow” said Ruffnut, “you’ve really burned all your bridges, haven’t you Viggo?”

He sighed. “It would seem so. Hiccup, my boy, I appreciate the thought but you can’t expect them to just forgive me straightaway, or at all for that matter. Not everyone is as magnanimous as you are.”

“Mag-what?” asked Snotlout, before rolling his eyes. “Great. Between you, Hiccup and Fishlegs…do you guys use big words to make yourselves feel smart or to make the rest of us feel dumb?”

“Pretty sure you don’t need help with that” Astrid remarked candidly. Snotlout glared at her.

Hiccup cut in before they could start bickering. “Look, I’m not asking you guys to forgive him, just to give him a chance. What he’s done, it’s in the past. Blaming him won’t change things.” It was an undeniable fact, no matter how much they might have wished it otherwise. Heather flinched a bit, and moved away. Viggo grimaced. Mala’s brow furrowed. Dagur looked to be deep in thought.

Finally, he stepped forward. “Apology accepted” he declared, to Viggo’s apparent surprise. “Also, _I’m_ sorry. For trying to use you” Dagur told Moonlight, cautiously reaching out a hand towards her. She briefly looked at her rider, for permission or assurance, before resting her snout against his palm. Dagur grinned, and Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. _This might turn out okay after all._

Dagur offered Viggo a handshake, which he accepted. Of course then Dagur had to add “But just to be clear, if you _do_ betray us or hurt my sister or my brother again I will use your skull as a helmet.” The most unsettling thing was that he still had a broad smile plastered on his face. Moonlight growled warningly.

Needless to say, Mala and Heather were less than thrilled with this. “My love, are you sure about this?” his betrothed asked, glancing at Viggo cautiously.

“I am, dearest” he told her. “Hiccup’s right, I _do_ know how he feels. I was a conscienceless bloodthirsty murderer once, too, and believe me, it’s not easy when you realise what you’ve done. All that guilt and, and regret, it just _crushes_ you under a mountain of self-hatred and despair!” Dagur was miming said crushing, when he glanced up and realised everyone was staring at him. He cleared his throat and explained, “Point is, I know what it’s like to be alone and struggling with all of that…guilt, stuff.” He pulled a face even saying the word.

It was a touching speech, by his standards. Mala sighed. “Dagur and Hiccup do make excellent points” she admitted, “and given that the riders managed to return our Great Protector to us, despite your best efforts to the contrary…it would be remiss of me to not at least consider accepting your apology.”

Viggo nodded slowly in understanding. Even he knew, given the circumstances, that this was the best he could expect. Dagur beamed at his fiancé. “You are always so, so _eloquent_. I love that about you. Nose kiss!” They nuzzled noses, oblivious to or more likely ignoring Snotlout and Tuffnut making gagging noises.

That only left Heather’s decision. “Okay, fine. I’ll think about it” she agreed, because Hiccup was right; blame wouldn’t change anything. “Just remember, if you turn on us again, I will make sure you regret it” Heather warned Viggo.

He looked up at her and mildly replied, “You’ll, ah, have to liaise with Astrid I’m afraid. She’s already made it clear she won’t let me live long enough for that.”

“You’re not special, you know” Astrid claimed in a dry voice, cutting off her boyfriends spluttered protest, “I say that to everyone who threatens Hiccup.”

Dagur nodded in agreement. “It’s true, she did the same to me. Ooh, we have so much more in common now!” he cried gleefully, all but bouncing on his heels.

Hiccup clapped his hands together. “Okay! Great. Seeing as we’re all here, team meeting” he declared. “We still haven’t found the last lens, and as far as we know, neither has Johann…but I don’t really want to take that risk. That’s why I’m proposing a mission to steal back the original Dragon Eye and all of their lenses. They can’t find the King of Dragons without it and it will buy us time.”

“Except that Johann is even more paranoid than Viggo” he continued – the man looked a bit indignant, but didn’t comment – “so we need to find out exactly where he’s keeping the Eye and lenses, before he has a chance to move them.”

Before Hiccup could explain what he had in mind, Ruff and Tuff grinned at each other in delight. It was kind of terrifying. “Our moment has arrived at last, dear sister! All of our training has prepared us for this great mission!” Tuff declared.

“Now, in this moment of crisis, it’s our time to shine!” Ruffnut crowed, as she and her brother posed dramatically back to back. “Watch out Johann, watch out Krogan, for we are Thorston and Thorston, sleuths extraordinaire!”

They both looked like cold water had been dumped on them when Hiccup calmly stated, “Not this time, guys. It’s too dangerous. I’m serious. Look, I know you want to put your stealth training to use, and you’ll get that chance; but if our enemies catch you, they won’t just toss you in a cell. They will _kill_ you. Krogan was on the verge of killing _me_ before Viggo distracted him” he revealed.

“But they won’t catch us!” Ruffnut stubbornly tried to insist. “We infiltrated Viggo’s base once and stole his plans for that Shellfire thingie, remember?”

Viggo calmly remarked, “You were discovered and captured soon afterwards, remember?” Ruffnut had no answer to that, and stuck her tongue out at him.

“I wasn’t captured” Tuffnut boasted. “Also, if _we’re_ not doing the infiltrating, who else is gonna find this stuff out? No wait, don’t tell me. I wanna guess.”

Hiccup replied, “None of _us_ need to risk infiltrating their base. We need someone on the inside that they won’t suspect...and we might have just that.” He looked at Viggo and asked, “Do you want to tell them, or should I?”

“No, go on. They’re more likely to believe it coming from you, anyway.”

Everyone looked at Hiccup curiously. He explained, “When he was getting the Dragon Eye – the original, that is - out of our volcano, Viggo had another hunter with him. He stopped the guy from falling into the lava, and saved his life.”

“Thus he owes me a life debt” Viggo pointed out, “and now seems like an excellent time to call it in.”

“Oh. Oh!” Fishlegs realised. “You’re gonna get him to repay it by telling us where the Dragon Eye is!”

Astrid looked sceptical. “Could he even do that? Johann’s not gonna let just _anyone_ see where it is.”

Mala questioned, “And if he does discover the Eye’s whereabouts, what’s to keep him from taking it himself? Or worse, telling Johann and Krogan about our intentions, life debt or not” she pointed out.

Viggo replied, “He wouldn’t need to find the items themselves; just finding out which room is the most heavily guarded would narrow it down considerably. Could he do that? Yes. Could he retrieve the Eye or lenses himself? Not a chance. There’s a reason I hired men like Trygge in the first place” he shrugged.

“Besides, we’re not going to tell him anything confidential in a letter that could be intercepted” Hiccup explained. “We’ll send a message asking him to meet Viggo in private, swear him to secrecy and _then_ give him the mission. Snotlout, I need you to come along as back-up, just in case.” His cousin gave a thumbs up.

Viggo added “As for him betraying us, Trygge was extremely grateful to me for saving his life. I think he’d be honourable enough to repay the debt. Of course there’s always plan B – take the base by force and search it at your leisure.”

“I like that plan better” declared Snotlout.

“Me too” said Tuff, “as much as I’d like to put our stealth skills to use, getting to blow stuff up works as well.”

“Yeah, see? Why bother with all this sneaking stuff when we can just go in, dragons blazing, bam!”

Hiccup leaned back against the wall and folded his arms, crossed his ankles. “Sure, we could just ‘go in, dragons blazing’. With every dragon rider we have, there’s a chance we’d take the base.” Snotlout looked smug. “And whilst we’re battling Krogan’s Singetails, what do you think Johann will be doing?”

“Err…”

Astrid replied, “Moving the Eye and lenses to a different location. That’s what we would do.”

“Exactly” Hiccup agreed, “as tempting as a full-on assault is, it’s also a massive red flag” he pointed out, “but if we have an idea of where the Eye and lenses are, we can cause a distraction, retrieve them and by the time Johann knows they’re gone, it’ll be too late. As for this guy betraying us…I’d rather take the risk of that happening, than risk any of _us_ trying to find the Eye, getting captured and, y’know…” He drew a finger over his throat. They all grimaced.

Then Ruffnut asked, “The distraction can still involve blowing stuff up, right?”

“Doesn’t it always?” Hiccup replied. The twins high fived. He looked around at them all and declared, “All in favour of Viggo calling in his debt to help find out where their Dragon Eye is, raise your hands.” Everybody held a hand up.

* * *

Viggo wrote out a message for Trygge Arnuldson, asking to meet in secret. Over the next few days he continued to heal, gradually regaining his strength and stamina. As galling as it was to be so weakened, he couldn’t complain; even he knew that would be terribly ungrateful. The riders, meanwhile, continued to rescue dragons and search for the last lens, hoping to find it before Johann did.

“You’re honestly recovering much faster than I expected” Fishlegs remarked happily, during one of his checks, “and it’s a good thing the medicine has kept your wounds from getting infected. Talk about a worst case scenario, right?”

He was focused on walking across the room without having to lean on Moonlight, but Viggo paused to reply, “I feel like _actually dying_ would be the worst case scenario, but infection is a close second.”

“What’s this about infection?” Hiccup asked as he strolled in. “You’re not getting sick, are you?”

“No. I was just saying that dying from my wounds would’ve been worse than them getting infected.”

“Yeah, but you can die from infection too, and that’s slower” Hiccup pointed out. “Also, I’ll take your ‘infection’ and raise you one ‘infection plus phantom pain’” he countered. Fishlegs and Viggo both winced. “Err, sorry. Anyway…D’you think you can make it outside? I want to show you something.”

Viggo answered, “I can try.” He gamely took a step forward, then another – then his leg buckled. He staggered, and felt scales under his hands. “Thank you, Moon…Toothless?” Viggo blinked in surprise as the Night Fury gently pushed him back into a standing position. Moonlight had leapt forward as well, but Toothless got there first. “Your species must be faster than I thought.”

Hiccup explained, “He’s had years of practice stopping _me_ from falling on my face. Moonlight, you come too. You guys are gonna like this” he grinned. The Skrill chirped curiously and helped Viggo to the doorway – “Close your eye, and no peeking!” –, then out across the platform, step by step. “Okay, stop…turn this way a bit…you can look, now” said Hiccup, the smile audible in his voice.

On the outcrop between Hiccup and Astrid’s huts, there now stood a third dwelling. It faced out towards the ocean. Spikes lined the rim and crest of the roof, which was painted dark purple, with a Skrill figurehead at the front. There was also a ramp leading up to Hiccup’s hut and his forge. “I know you wanted a ballista so I put it on a platform inside, and it fires right through the figureheads open mouth, so you can pretend they're lightning bolts” explained Hiccup. “We haven’t decorated the inside, I figured you’d want to do that yourself.”

He glanced at Viggo, who was staring at the new hut, jaw dropped. “So, uh, what d’you think?”

“I…” Viggo was still amazed that they’d actually built him his own hut, and so quickly. Dragon labour, no doubt. “I love it” he heard himself say. Moonlight was purring deeply in approval; he could feel the vibrations under his hand.

Hiccup beamed. “You do? That’s great! It’d be really awkward if you didn’t” he quipped. “Ahem. Do, uh, do you wanna see the inside?” he asked. “I mean there’s not much, just basic furniture and” –

“I’m sure it’s fine” Viggo assured him. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble on my account.”

“How do you know this was for your benefit?” Hiccup retorted. “Maybe I just wanted my bed back.”

Viggo chuckled, amused. “You’re learning” he noted, sounding almost proud, “but you shouldn’t give away your true intentions. Unless, of course, you’re lying and you really _did_ do all this for my sake.”

“No, I didn’t” Hiccup said too quickly, not meeting his eyes. Viggo smirked; the boy really was a terrible liar. Then he doubled down on it. “Nope, I just wanted my hut back, no other reason…”

“That’s a shame” Viggo sighed, looking disappointed. “It was such a nice gesture. And here I thought you actually cared…”

Hiccup frowned. “No wait, I’m sorry. I _do_ care, honest, I was just…” he trailed off, realising he’d just fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book, and dragged a hand over his face. “Okay, you win.”

The older man snickered. So did the dragons, which was even more annoying. “It was a good attempt, at least” he remarked, patting Hiccup’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, rub it in. So, uh, we all pitched in to help build this” Hiccup gestured at Viggo’s new home, “but there’s two more presents from me inside. One for you, and one for Moonlight” he revealed. “Do you want to see them?”

Intrigued, Viggo gestured with a hand. “Lead the way.” The four of them went down to the hut, and Hiccup pulled the doors open. There was a large bed, a stone slab for Moonlight to sleep on, a wardrobe and a desk. On the desk were two packages. Viggo carefully walked over and unwrapped the one on top.

His eyes widened. Beneath the cloth was a Gronckle Iron round shield, emblazoned with the stylised image of a Skrill. He’d admired Hiccup’s shield – having it double as a crossbow was ingenious – and now he had one of his own.

Setting it aside very carefully, Viggo unwrapped the other present. A thick, triangular leather pad, straps, stirrups… “Moonlight, my dear” he remarked as he picked it up and turned to her. “I believe Hiccup has made you a saddle.”

She chirped curiously and came over to sniff at it closely. “Yep. Custom-built” Hiccup announced proudly, grinning. “Turn it over” he prompted. The underside had a metal lined slot running down the middle. “Your spines will fit in there, and there’s no metal on the outside, so Viggo won’t get shocked when you fire lightning” Hiccup explained to Moonlight. “Do, uh, do you like the presents?”

Moonlight purred in approval. “Yes. Moonlight like. Willow like?” she asked.

“Yes, I like them. Hiccup, you really didn’t need to do all this for me” Viggo tried to protest. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but…I don’t deserve these gifts.”

Hiccup shrugged. “It’s just practical” he said airily. “You need a saddle if you’re gonna be a dragon rider, and you need a shield to block, oh I don’t know, arrows?” he suggested. Viggo snorted. “I might as well have put the effort in.”

Knowing the young man wouldn’t take no for an answer, Viggo replied, “In that case, thank you. For the presents. It was very generous of you” he commented.

“Don’t mention it. So uh, I gotta go on patrol but we’re going to meet Trygge tonight, remember? Maybe you can ride to the meeting spot on Moonlight.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Viggo remarked “I’m not sure Fishlegs would approve.”

“Ah, well, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, if you’re sitting on Moonlights’ back then you’re technically not overexerting yourself” Hiccup pointed out. The loophole abuse made Viggo chuckle. “Or you can ride with us.”

“We can figure that out nearer the time” he suggested. “You best be going.” Hiccup and Toothless left him to it, and Viggo looked around his new dwelling. First of all, he needed a prominent place to display his grandfather’s sword…

* * *

Despite Fishlegs’ protests, Viggo did end up riding Moonlight for the first time that night. It was a bit hard to get his balance at first on her narrower back, but he soon got the hang of it. They were under strict instructions to not do any crazy tricks for the time being, though. Toothless and Hiccup flew alongside them. “You catch on quick!” Hiccup grinned. “How’s the saddle holding up?”

“I’m still on it, so I’d say it’s fine” he quipped back. “What do you think, my dear?” Viggo asked Moonlight, “you’re not uncomfortable, are you?”

Not for the first time, Hiccup marvelled at seeing Viggo Grimborn of all people treat a dragon with such respect. Moonlight purred reassuringly and insisted “Willow not-worry so much. I not-care about own comfort.” The implication, of course, was that she was more concerned for his. Hiccup also marvelled at how much the pair of them had bonded, seemingly as much as him and Toothless.

Viggo patted her flank and looked over the side at the sea. It was a _really_ long way down. A sudden bout of vertigo made him waver, gripping the handlebars tighter and sucking in a breath. “You okay?” he heard Hiccup ask, and nodded.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just…felt like I was about to fall off, for a moment there.”

Snotlout and Hookfang caught up with them. “You’re talking to a guy who jumps out of his saddle and just plummets for fun” Snotlout said dryly. “I’m not sure Hiccup even knows what being afraid of falling _is_ ” he commented sarcastically.

“I’ve almost fallen to my death more times than I can count” Hiccup remarked, “I kinda just got used to it after a while” he shrugged. Viggo chuckled. “And besides, I don’t need to worry about falling, Snotlout. What do you think I made the Dragonfly II for?” he asked rhetorically, jangling a metal hoop at his side.

Snotlout answered anyway. “So you can almost get yourself killed in style.”

Viggo laughed even harder at that. So did the dragons. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

“So have you got it on because you might need it or because you just wanted to show off?” Snotlout questioned. From the name and context, Viggo could guess that this invention was some kind of wing-suit. Hiccup pretended to think hard.

“Yes” he answered bluntly, to both options, “and seeing as how it’s gonna be a while before we get there…” he trailed off with a mischievous grin, leaning over to pat Toothless’ neck. “What d’you say we practice that new trick of ours, bud?” Hiccup suggested brightly. Toothless growled. “Ah, you worry too much.”

“Toothless _need_ worry too-much. Hiccup worries not-enough.”

Hiccup protested, “Yeah, because there’s nothing to worry about! It works, I just need to practice using it. You know what, I’m just gonna jump” he declared, locking Toothless’ tail-fin into position. Then he unclipped his belaying lines, slipped his wrists through the hoops, stood up on the dragons back and jumped-

Arms outstretched, the red-dyed fabric spread between them catching the wind and letting him glide. Hiccup flipped himself over and triumphantly exclaimed “Ha! See? I told you there’s nothing to worry about, it’s perfectly safe”- Just then, the current he was riding on stopped, or dipped, and Hiccup dropped like a stone. Toothless gave a long-suffering groan and promptly dived after him.

When they caught up with the others, Viggo and Snotlout were almost falling out of the saddle themselves from laughing so hard. Hiccup flushed and tried to sulk; however, soon even he was chuckling. In retrospect it was pretty funny.

* * *

Viggo sat on the boulder, waiting. He appeared to be alone, but knew that the other riders and Moonlight were perched up on the cliff behind him. They’d circled the meeting place before landing, keeping an eye out for traps or an ambush, and seen none. All he had to do was wait for Trygge to arrive. At last, a light appeared in the darkness; someone was carrying a lantern towards him.

He stood up slowly, wincing a bit as the movement pulled on the scars at his back. A burly man clad in dragon hunter armour approached, and cautiously asked “Who goes there?” It was definitely Trygge; the man raised his lantern higher, and gasped when he saw who was in the shadows. “Viggo? Is that you?”

“Indeed it is” Viggo said calmly, stepping forward into the light. “Hello, Trygge.”

The hunter stared at him. “Sir, I thought you…they told us you were dead!”

Viggo gestured to himself and remarked “As you can see, I’m still alive. Though to be fair, I did come rather close to departing a couple of times” he quipped.

Bewildered, Trygge asked “Sir, what happened to you? Where have you been?”

“Oh, that’s quite a tale” Viggo smirked, before sobering. “The short version is that Johann and Krogan tried to betray and kill me. Whilst attempting to get revenge, I was gravely injured. As for where I’ve been…believe it or not, the dragon riders have been helping me recover from my wounds” he revealed.

Trygge’s eyes widened. “The _riders_ had you? Well, at least you managed to escape” he said in relief, and asked “How did you get past their dragons?”

With a slight chuckle, Viggo remarked “Oh, it wasn’t easy, I assure you; but never mind that. You owe me a debt, Trygge Arnuldson, and I need a favour.”

Immediately Trygge agreed, “Of course sir, anything.”

“I did hope I could count on you. Now, it is of the utmost importance that no one else know about this. Especially not the ‘supreme leaders’” Viggo warned. Trygge nodded mutely. “I need you to find out as much as you can about where Johann is hiding his Dragon Eye and lenses” he explained in a low voice. “After all, it was my tribe that made them, and thus they rightfully belong to me.”

Trygge gulped nervously. “I, uh, I’ll do my best sir” he promised, “b-but I don’t understand, how this is gonna repay a _life_ debt. I’m supposed to save _yours_.”

“Not necessarily” Viggo remarked calmly. “So long as you don’t betray me, and get me this information, I’ll consider your debt repaid in full. Now, when you know something for certain, send a Terror Mail to Dragon’s Edge asking to meet here. I’ll intercept it and come to learn what you know. So, do we have a deal?”

Trygge hesitated, and then shook Viggo’s hand. “Aye, sir. It’s a deal” he nodded.

“There’s a good man. Now, you best be getting back to your post before they notice you’re gone” Viggo suggested. Trygge hurried away, and once the man was out of earshot, Moonlight flew down to land beside him. Viggo smiled and patted her neck, put his foot in the stirrup and heaved himself into the saddle.

Moonlight took off, and they flew to rejoin Toothless and Hookfang. “How did it go?” asked Hiccup, as they headed back towards the Edge. “Did he agree to it?”

“He did, and he doesn’t suspect a thing” Viggo replied. “As a matter of fact, he thought you’d been holding me prisoner. I just let him believe what he wanted.”

Snotlout inquired “Yeah, so, remind me again why you didn’t tell this guy you’re a dragon rider now?” Hookfang drifted closer. “It’s not like he could stop you.”

“Because if he knew Viggo was one of us, he might see it as a betrayal” replied Hiccup, “and then he might decide the life debt was invalid” he explained.

“Well done” Viggo praised. “You’re absolutely right. Tell me, what will you do if he _does_ suspect something? Or when he finds out about this…after all, the fact that I’m on your side isn’t going to be a secret for much longer” he pointed out.

Hiccup replied “There’s not much we can do about that right now, and Trygge probably thinks you’re planning to double-cross both Johann _and_ us. He might just assume you changing sides is part of that. We’ll take extra reinforcements the next time there’s a rendezvous, just in case he decides to stage an ambush.”

Viggo nodded approvingly. “Who else did you intend to come? Astrid, perhaps?”

“Actually I was gonna say the twins. Zippleback gas makes for a great smokescreen. That, and it means Astrid doesn’t have to keep an eye on them.”

“I know those two aren’t the sharpest swords in the armoury, but perhaps you’re not giving them enough credit” suggested Viggo. “After all, they’re becoming very adept at stealth. They’ve even managed to evade Astrid.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure years of sneaking around setting up pranks has given them an edge in that regard” Hiccup retorted. “I swear, it’s like I _blink_ and they’re in a different place. Y’know, I’m actually impressed you’ve gotten them to focus on learning a new skill for this long. Kinda jealous, too – I can’t get Ruff and Tuff to concentrate on anything for more than five minutes, sometimes.”

Snotlout interjected, “Is that five minutes _between_ them or five minutes each? Look, we all know the twins are muttonheads. They’re good at sneaking around and blowing stuff up, and luckily for us that’s all we need them for” he snarked.

“It is not” Hiccup protested. “That’s like saying all we need _you_ for is to boast and set stuff on fire. Besides, the twins aren’t _dumb,_ they’re just…easily bored” he said slowly, trying to be fair about it. “So how did you get them to focus?” he asked Viggo. “Please tell me, because that could really come in useful later.”

Chuckling, the older man answered “My dear boy, the solution to your problem is staring you right in the face. What’s the main thing those two enjoy doing?”

“Being annoying” declared Snotlout.

“Playing pranks” Hiccup corrected “Dedicating themselves to Loki.”

“Precisely, and what does training in stealth help them do?” Viggo inquired.

Snotlout groaned impatiently. “Ugh. Okay, you two _strategists_ have fun with your game of twenty questions, but Hookfang and I wanna actually get home and go to bed, so see ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya” he declared. Hookfang paused just long enough to bid goodbye to Toothless and Moonlight, much to his riders annoyance, before the two of them flew off. Hiccup and Viggo were alone.

“Sorry about that. His brain is usually on fighting, food, or sleep. Or all three.”

“No matter. Now, I believe you were on the verge of realising the answer.”

Hiccup blinked. “It helps them…with their pranks? No, that’s too obvious…”

“Sometimes the obvious answer is the right one” said Viggo. “My guess is that anything involving their favourite pastime will keep their attention. Which means all _you_ have to do is relate their pranks to whatever it is you’re trying to get them to focus on” he explained. “Play to their strengths, as it were.”

Now it was Hiccup’s turn to groan. He slumped back in the saddle and wondered aloud, “How in the name of Odin did I not realise that before? I’ve known them my whole life, how did I not figure this out?” he berated himself.

Viggo took pity on him for once. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, my dear boy. You _have_ known them your whole life, so you’re used to seeing them in a certain way. I, at least, have the benefit of an outside perspective. It’s just easier for me to see what you’re missing because I’m…removed from the situation.”

That made sense. “I guess you’re right. Thanks for the advice” Hiccup smiled gratefully. “So what else do you think we should prepare for, with Trygge?” he asked. Viggo was pleased to see him thinking ahead, and began to suggest possible scenarios, seeing what countermeasures Hiccup could come up with.

* * *

Hiccup asked Astrid to help Viggo with dragon riding. After all, a Skrill was more similar to a Nadder in shape and manoeuvrability than a Night Fury. He also hoped it would give her a chance to get to know the man better. There were some things that Astrid wanted setting straight, and it meant she could keep an eye on him, so she agreed to teach him. Viggo turned out to be a fast learner.

“I have to admit, you’re better at this than I thought you’d be” she commented.

“Thanks” he replied. “It probably helps that I’ve ridden on dragonback before.”

That reminded Astrid of what she wanted to discuss. “I don’t get it” she said out of the blue. “You’ve ridden dragons, and you still wanted to hunt them? _Why_?”

“Astrid, I am – or was – a businessman” he replied. “Getting too attached to the goods I was selling would have been bad for business. A man could ride a horse and still sell horses, or own a dog and still sell dogs. It was no different to that.”

It was just the sort of callous answer she’d expect from the likes of Viggo Grimborn. “You mean thralls” Astrid bit out, with an accusing glare. “You were selling thralls and corpses.” She’d seen the dragonskin tents and clothes; it sickened her. She’d had _nightmares_ about Stormfly being turned into a cloak.

Viggo flinched, and hurried to steady himself in the saddle. “Never again” he declared, “I swear.” He pressed a hand against his heart to look more sincere.

A voice in the back of Astrid’s mind – it sounded like Hiccup – suggested maybe he _was_ being sincere. Still, she was wary. “What changed?” she demanded. “Snotlout told me about meeting the Nightmare that saved you. What I don’t understand is why _that_ changed your mind. I mean, it’s good that it did, but…”

Viggo signalled Moonlight to land. Stormfly followed, and their riders climbed off. He sat down carefully on a log, wincing in pain. Astrid felt bad for…Fishlegs, after all the effort he’d put in to heal the guy. Viggo looked at her and patted the log next to him. Cautiously, she came over and sat down on it, and waited.

He sighed and explained, “I might have made it sound like being rescued by that dragon gave me a sudden revelation, but it was really more like the last straw. You see, I _did_ notice the bond you all share with your dragons. I knew what it implied…but I had quotas to fill, men to pay, profits to make. I literally couldn’t afford to doubt. So I told myself you were all just being naïve, sentimental.”

Before Astrid could start feeling too insulted, Viggo continued. “Then Ryker died…Krogan took command of the hunters in my absence…and to top it all off, he and Johann tried to leave me for dead. I’d lost _everything_. I thought Saviour was going to kill me, but he didn’t. I’d be an even bigger fool to deny the evidence dragons were equals when it happened _to_ me, right in front of me.”

Astrid mulled the words over in silence. It would be…disingenuous of her not to admit, if only to herself, that she kind of knew how he felt. After all, before that first flight on Toothless, Astrid Hofferson was just as focused on slaying dragons. To protect her people, not for business, but they’d both changed their minds.

“I’m not expecting sympathy, of course” Viggo said quietly. “I hope this clears up what you were confused about, though. It…wasn’t as straightforward as having one ride on the back of a dragon and suddenly going against the norm.”

For a moment Astrid felt judged, but there was no way the guy could know about her first flight. Only she and Hiccup had been there, and she’d sworn Hiccup to secrecy about it. “I think…I understand now” she said slowly. “You were just…doing what your people needed you to, the only way you knew.”

Oh, Freya. Was she starting to sympathise with him after all? Astrid stood up. “Come on. The day’s not over yet, and we still have a lot of training to do.”

He nodded, and stood. “I don’t mind if you talk to Hiccup about this” Viggo commented. “You are partners, after all. He’s a lucky man to have you.”

Astrid smirked. “I know. And trust me, I’m never going to let him forget it.”


	6. Family Matters

Hiccup came to Viggo’s hut the next day. “Are you alright? You seem nervous” he commented, noticing how much Hiccup was fidgeting. He motioned for Hiccup to take the chair, whilst he sat on the bed. “I’m guessing Astrid has told you about her chat with me.”

“Yeah. It, uh, it got me thinking. Can….” Hiccup swallowed. “Can you tell me about the – the business?” he asked hesitantly. Viggo was surprised; he’d never thought he’d see the day.

“You mean the dragon hunting business?” he checked, just to make sure. Hiccup nodded. “Yes, I can tell you about it, but I’m not really sure why you want to know” he admitted.

The young man winced. “I don’t really _want_ to…but I think I need to. I mean, even if we defeat Krogan and Johann, the dragon hunters aren’t just going to disappear, are they? So I figured if I knew more about how they see it, maybe I can think of a way to change their minds.”

It was good to see him thinking ahead. “That’s very mature of you” Viggo complimented, “I’m impressed. So, let’s start with what you know about how business works in general.”

“Um, I know it’s about supply and demand” Hiccup answered. “If whatever you’re selling is in low supply, but there’s a high demand, it costs more, and vice versa” he elaborated.

“That’s the basic idea” Viggo agreed. “You also have to consider the risk of obtaining the goods, transporting them…in the case of dragon hunting, Gronckles are almost as common as the rocks they eat, but they also spit _lava_ ” he said pointedly. “With dragons, how difficult they are to capture affects the price more than how rare they are. Though the two things can often overlap” he acknowledged, gesturing to the Night Fury and Skrill in the room.

Hiccup reached out to stroke Toothless, more to reassure himself than anything else. “It’s hard to be impartial about this stuff. I just keep thinking about all those poor dragons being killed or enslaved” he grimaced. “They’re not…they don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“You’re not wrong” Viggo said slowly, “but you are biased.” Hiccup’s brow furrowed, a bit indignantly. “It’s true. Oh, it’s understandable; you’ve had four years to get attached to them, after all. But for most people, dragons are monsters at worst or exotic wild game at best. They sleep easier knowing there are men willing to fight the dangerous beasts, and hunters feel no more guilt about taking down a dragon than they would a boar, or a stag.”

It was a harsh truth, but Hiccup did remember how his own tribe had seen dragons before the war ended. He sighed. “Maybe I am kind of biased…and I’m guessing it’s not going to be as simple as showing people they don’t have to be scared of dragons” Hiccup realised.

Viggo shook his head. “It rarely is. Like I said before, most dragon hunters are mercenaries. Sometimes they’re just greedy, sometimes they’re in poverty, sometimes they’re trying to buy their freedom. There are hunters and trappers who were, or are, thralls, trying to pay off a debt on themselves” he explained. “There’s also the upper class seeing dragons or…dragon parts as status symbols, religions seeing them as demons or chaotic entities…”

He trailed off, realising the dragons looked confused and Hiccup looked appalled. Viggo knew that such a clever young man couldn’t possibly be _that_ sheltered. “It’s unpleasant, I know, but this is how the world works. Surely you can understand that” he commented.

“I understand…but the reminder makes changing people’s minds feel a lot more daunting.”

 _He’s certainly ambitious_ Viggo considered. “It will be difficult, yes, but there is still hope. It comes back to supply and demand; there’s nothing you can do about the supply of dragons, obviously, but you can do something about the demand for them. You need to convince people that dragons are worth more alive than dead; worth more free than caged.” 

Hiccup nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. “I guess…I have a lot to think about” he realised, standing up. “Um, thanks for the talk” he said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair.

“You’re welcome; and Hiccup? Don’t trouble yourself over all this business stuff too much. Focus on the current goal – you need to win this war before you go looking for another one” said Viggo. Hiccup gave a nod, and then went to leave, Toothless padding after him.

* * *

Four days later, the newest members had their first mission. Battling dragons in midair was a far cry from attacking or defending against them on the ground. For one thing it was easier to dodge, even if the roll Moonlight did to avoid that Singetail’s blast made Viggo’s stomach turn inside out. He felt his hair stand on end as she fired a bolt of lightning at the flyer; sparks danced across the metal reins, and he was bucked off by the Singetail itself.

“Five thousand pounds of flaming muscle coming through!” Snotlout bellowed. “Whoo!”

Astrid was being chased by a flyer, but another was heading towards her. Viggo saw it despite having a blind side - something that he’d have to learn to compensate for – and urged Moonlight to catch up. Astrid led the flyers behind some clouds where Hiccup and Toothless were waiting; the Night Fury took out one flyer, his Skrill took out the other.

Hovering alongside her boyfriend, Astrid laughed, “That never gets old. Thanks” she added to Viggo as an afterthought. He nodded.

“Two less flyers, two more free Singetails” Hiccup declared cheerfully. They flew over to join Snotlout and the twins hovering above a previously dragon-laden, now sinking ship.

“Sinking Johann’s ships” announced Ruffnut, “it’s not just a job, it’s a _calling_.”

“Yeah, so what are we calling them this time?” Tuffnut asked with a smirk.

“Sissies!”

“Meatheads! Slapbutts! Ugly legs! Weird ears!”

Ignoring Tuffnut’s litany of insults, Snotlout commented “Am I the only one who’s noticed that no matter how many Singetails we free, Johann always seems to find more?”

Astrid replied with a straight face, “You know Snotlout, you _are_ the only one who’s noticed. You could fill a _book_ with all the things only you and your genius brain noticed.”

“A book, you say?” Snotlout looked intrigued, having missed the sarcasm. He suggested possible titles. “The world according to Snotlout, or, the wit and wisdom of Snotlout.”

“A short story” quipped Astrid.

“A work of fiction” Hiccup grinned.

“Very funny.” Snotlout took out a notebook and pencil from somewhere on his person, and began to scribble. “Chapter one – the many ways I am unappreciated.”

Viggo suddenly realised someone was missing. “Wait, where is Fishlegs?” he asked.

No sooner had he done so than Fishlegs shouted for them. On the cliffs of the island they’d been fighting above was a downed Singetail, with Fishlegs crouched nearby. The other riders quickly flew down to investigate the matter.

The female green Singetail was lying unconscious on the ground, with a fallen tree beside it. The pieces weren’t hard to fit together. “I didn’t mean to do it” Fishlegs said, looking distressed. “They were about to fire at you guys from behind, and we were out of shots…”

“So you decided to drop a tree onto them instead?” Snotlout asked incredulously. Everyone else, even Viggo, gave him a pointed _now is not the time_ stare. “What? You can see it!”

Ruffnut popped up on Fishlegs’ left and remarked “Ah, she probably didn’t feel a thing.”

Tuff added, “Yeah, it looks like she went peacefully.”

“She’s not dead, you two!” he snapped at them.

“Oh. We just…assumed…apologies.”

“The Singetail will be fine, Fishlegs” Viggo assured him. “They’re one of the sturdiest dragon species.” Moonlight snarled a bit. “Aside from Skrills, of course” he added. She purred.

“There, you see?” Hiccup asked rhetorically. “Relax, Fishlegs, she’ll come to eventually.”

Toothless, who had been nosing at the Singetail, called out “Hiccup come look.”

“What is it, bud?” Hiccup asked, going over. “Err, guys? I think I know the answer to Snotlout’s question.” He straightened up and held out a small piece of opaque amber.

“That’s Death Song amber” Astrid realised. “ _That’s_ how they’re getting all those Singetails.” She rounded on Viggo and demanded suspiciously, “Did you know this was happening?”

Viggo held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Astrid, I swear I didn’t” he replied. Then he remembered something and winced. Her eyes narrowed. “I – I did ask, once. Where the Singetails were coming from. Krogan said it was none of my business, and – well, at the time, I didn’t have any reason to pursue the matter. So I merely…ignored it” he confessed.

“Look, what matters is that we know about it now” Hiccup insisted, before Astrid could get too frustrated with Viggo, “so we can do something to stop it once and for all” he declared.

“What if the hunters have found where we hid Garff?” Astrid suggested worriedly, turning to Hiccup. “We need to go and check on him” she insisted, “if they’ve captured him, I’ll –!”

“Calm down. It’s not him; when we found Garff on Melody Island, he was injured, but the female Death Song was nowhere to be found. The hunters must have captured her then.”

“But Hiccup, that was _months_ ago” Fishlegs realised, going pale. “Oh Thor, it’s the Catastrophic Quakens all over again. Enslaving dragons to enslave _other_ dragons is, is…”

“Brilliant!” declared Tuffnut.

Astrid glared at him furiously. “It’s evil!”

“Err…you didn’t let me finish” he said hastily. “It’s brilliant _ly_ evil! But mostly evil, y’know, seventy percent evil, thirty percent brilliant...” Astrid continued to glare. “Eighty, twenty?”

Ruffnut commented “You know, they say truly evil people are also geniuses.”

“Does that mean Viggo _isn’t_ a genius anymore?” Tuff wondered. “I mean, if he’s not evil…”

Ignoring the twins, Astrid implored Hiccup “We’re not that far from Garff’s island. Stormfly hasn’t seen him in ages, she misses him. Can’t we do a quick flyby to make sure he’s okay?”

Viggo was interested to see if Hiccup would be impartial towards his betrothed. His prediction was that the boy would give into her plea, and sure enough… “Okay fine, we’ll do a _quick_ check on Garff, and then we’re going straight back to the Edge to figure out where the hunters are keeping the Death Song” Hiccup said firmly. Astrid beamed and kissed him.

“Heh, you’re welcome, milady” he smiled at her. “Hey, Viggo? Can you help Fishlegs take the Singetail back home, it doesn’t feel right to just leave her here for any hunters to find.”

It made sense that they wouldn’t want him to see this secret island, so Viggo agreed. He and Fishlegs went in one direction; Hiccup, Astrid and the twins went in the other. Snotlout was too busy writing. “Chapter two – never be the guy that stays behind by himself…oh.”

* * *

“You would not believe what that lovesick knucklehead has done!” Snotlout complained when the others got back. It turned out they had brought Garff – an adolescent Death Song – with them. According to Ruffnut, Hiccup had uttered the fateful words, “End of story” in Astrid’s presence, and was now paying the price. _No one_ disagreed with Astrid Hofferson.

“I don’t think any one of us have ever won an argument with her” Tuff informed Viggo.

“Personally I don’t even bother trying, it just seems like too much work” commented Ruff.

The riders were all gathered in the arena. Hiccup pinned a map on the wooden board. “All of these islands are great fishing grounds for ice-tail pike, which means they’re also perfect habitats for Singetails” he explained, “and they prefer to nest on non-volcanic islands, which would rule out the ones here, here, and here.” Hiccup crossed out the three islands.

Snotlout raised a hand. “That’s fascinating, but can we address the Singetail in the room?” He jerked a thumb over at where Fishlegs was tending to the still injured female dragon.

Hiccup gave him a disapproving look. “We couldn’t just leave her there, you know that.”

“So I guess everybody just gets to bring whatever dragons they want to the Edge now.” Snotlout opened his book and began to write. “Chapter three, don’t bring untrainable dragons home, _duh._ Subtitle, bad things always happen. Hey!” he cried when Astrid snatched his pencil out of his hands as she strode past, going over to the map on the board.

“Given food supply, non-volcanic islands, and migration patterns, I'd say this is the area where I would set up to catch Singetails” Astrid deduced, circling two islands in particular.

“Well, they wouldn’t be at the one on the left” Fishlegs pointed out as he came over, having left the Singetail to rest for the time being, “that’s where we fought the Cavern Crasher.”

“ _We_ fought it?” Snotlout pulled out another pencil from under his helmet and kept writing. “Chapter four, people always steal my credit!”

Hiccup agreed “You’re right, Fishlegs. Not a good site for a base with that guy burrowing everywhere. Which leaves us with this island.” He circled the target. “If we leave now we can get there in a couple of hours, free the Death Song and any Singetails they’ve caught…”

“And then we can finally cut off Johann’s supply to new dragons” Snotlout declared.

Astrid added, “And we can reunite Melody with Garff.” They all stared at her. “What? I named her! It’s not like we haven’t named wild dragons before” she pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah, sure, family reunion, but mostly we can _cut off the supply to new dragons_.”

“We can do both” Hiccup said firmly. “Though, Astrid, obviously this time Garff has to stay behind. We can’t risk giving Krogan another Death Song, right?” he asked. Her eyes narrowed stubbornly. “Astrid, he’s not trained. And he won’t be lonely! Fishlegs and Meatlug will be here, taking care of the Singetail, so…” Hiccup trailed off with a wary smile.

Astrid continued to glare at him. “Ah, come on H” said Tuffnut, “why delay the inevitable?”

“He has a point. What Astrid wants, Astrid gets” Ruffnut declared. “Besides, it’s not like Viggo’s gonna realise you’re a complete pushover around her. He probably already knows.”

The reminder that Viggo was watching his girlfriend walking all over him – and yes, smirking in amusement – made Hiccup want to put his foot down, and keep it there. _He_ was in charge. “You know, it’s funny” he remarked casually, “I seem to remember you saying…what was it… ‘we follow Hiccup. None of us thinks we know better than him’."

Her jaw dropped; she stared at him in disbelief. “Whatever happened to accepting me as the leader?” Hiccup challenged. “The last time I gave you special treatment, we almost lost the Edge” he reminded her, and she flinched. “Garff is _not_ coming with us, and that’s final.”

A plethora of emotions crossed over Astrid’s face – none of them pleasant – before she finally bit out a scornful “If you insist”, and strode off to bid goodbye to Garff. Hiccup sighed. He hated arguing with her, hated upsetting her, but he knew this had to be done. His friends were speechless; they’d never heard Hiccup talk to Astrid like that before.

The silence was broken by Snotlout. “Chapter five, Hiccup Haddock grows a backbone.”

Giving his cousin a pointed _not the time_ glare, he declared, “Let’s get ready to leave.”

* * *

It was a long, awkward flight out to the target island. For one thing, Astrid was still miffed at Hiccup and refusing to speak to him. Or even fly alongside him as she normally would. The twins attempted to pass the time playing I Spy, but there wasn’t really much to look at except clouds and ocean. Viggo occupied himself by thinking of possible battle tactics. He steered Moonlight closer to Toothless so he could discuss them with Hiccup properly.

What he found himself saying instead was, “For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing.”

Hiccup didn’t reply, merely kept staring straight ahead. He was either sulking or berating himself, or both. “I don’t suppose you want any relationship advice?” Viggo suggested.

“Not particularly.”

“Oh. Well, if you change your mind, you know where I am.”

“Uh-huh…” Hiccup drawled. Then he sat up straighter when an island came into view on the horizon. “Guys, we’re coming up on the target” he called, “it should be just beyond this island. Everyone in formation, and stay above cloud cover” he ordered. They flew over the first isle, and sure enough, the one adjacent to it had loaded catapults and flyers on patrol.

“Okay. These people obviously do not want company” Tuffnut observed, as they hovered.

Hiccup looked down at the pit most of the hunters were in. “There’s the Death Song” he noted, pointing at a colourful dragon chained between two stout posts, luring in Singetails and engulfing them in amber. The hunters were dragging the trapped dragons away.

Astrid claimed “We can take these guys. We have the element of surprise.”

“Ah, but they have the element of ‘there are way more people’” Snotlout retorted.

Moonlight drifted closer to Toothless. “Look” Viggo pointed, “the guards are all keeping watch around that area, but there’s plenty of island that they’re not paying attention to.”

“Right. So we come in fast and low, land on the island back there and get a closer look” Hiccup decided, “but we’ll have to be careful to avoid the patrols. Come on, gang.”

They found a ledge to watch the hunters from, whilst their dragons kept an eye out for the flyers. “You know, this will be a good practice run for your retrieval mission” said Viggo.

“I suppose that’s true, but this is a rescue mission first and foremost” Hiccup reminded him.

Speaking of which, what’s wrong with the Death Song?” asked Snotlout. The dragon in question seemed distressed, screeching and rattling her chains. When the hunters tried to get her under control, she spat amber at them. Not all of the men managed to dodge away.

“Maybe she can sense we’re here?” Hiccup guessed. “Okay, uh, we need a plan. I count…six flyers. Me, Astrid and Viggo can deal with two each. Snotlout and the twins can take out the ground defences, but then how do we free all those other Singetails?” he wondered aloud.

Ruffnut snickered and elbowed Viggo. “Look at that guy”, she pointed at a unfortunate hunter who’d been encased in amber. “They’re trying to pull him out by his head.”

“A technique that has the benefit” said Tuffnut, “of being both painful and…ineffective.”

Snotlout grinned smugly. “Oh, they could totally use some of Hooky's Monstrous Nightmare gel” he remarked, casually patting his dragons flank. “Too bad, they don't have any.”

“But _we_ have plenty of it, right?” Hiccup asked rhetorically, getting an idea.

“Always, but why would we want to use it to free that hunter?” Snotlout questioned.

Hiccup sighed. “Not _him._ We use it to release the Singetails. Then three of us fend off the flyers, the other two take out the catapults, we unchain Melody and we’re home free.”

“Unless we get spotted putting the gel in place, but other than that it’s a good plan” remarked Viggo. “Though I wouldn’t say ‘home free’ just yet, if I were you” he added.

Snotlout wrote in his book again. “Chapter six, Snotlout’s Monstrous Nightmare gel saves the day again.” Hookfang growled. “Okay, Snotfang’s” – another snarl – “ _Hookfang’s_ Monstrous Nightmare…you know what? This is my book, not yours, mister” he declared.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Edge, Fishlegs was tending to the Singetail. The poor thing kept waking up, and losing consciousness again, making him feel even worse for injuring her in the first place. Meatlug was keeping Garff entertained, much to his relief. Fishlegs wasn’t sure if he could have handled the exuberant young Death Song, but his princess was so motherly. They were playing a game of ‘cover Meatlug’s lava blasts with amber’ right now.

The arena looked a mess, but at least Garff was occupied. Fishlegs picked up the reins they’d taken off the Singetail. It was barbaric. _Maybe I should give her a name_ he mused, _like…Singey? No, that’s stupid…_ Just then, she opened her eyes again, and her blurred vision focused on Fishlegs, right in front of her, holding up a chain. He dropped it like it was red hot, and hastily assured the female Singetail, “I took it off, I wasn’t putting it back on!”

Meatlug made a questioning noise. “Yes, I know she can’t understand me; I’m _nervous_ ” Fishlegs protested. He turned back to the Singetail and held out a piece of sage fruit. “Here, have some. It’ll help keep you calm, which will help keep me calm.” She sniffed at the proffered fruit, then snatched it out of his hand. Fishlegs jumped, then sighed in relief, only to grimace when she promptly spat out the half chewed remnants of the pulp all over him.

“Okay! Not a fan of fruit. You’re more of a…meat eater…” he gulped as she sniffed at him.

The Singetail heaved herself to her feet and started trying to get out of the dome, knocking things over and shooting fireballs. This distressed Garff, who screeched and spat amber at her, almost hitting Meatlug. “Okay, clearly you don’t wanna be in here anymore!” Fishlegs realised. He ducked and rolled, ran over to the lever that opened the dome and yanked on it. A gap appeared; the female Singetail wriggled through it and flew off into the sky.

Fishlegs breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. That’s that…wait, no! No, no, Garff, come back!” he cried as the rambunctious Death Song followed after the Singetail. “Oh, _perfect_. Come on, girl, we’d better keep an eye on him” Fishlegs realised. “Oh, wait, I have an idea!”

* * *

Hiccup and Snotlout poured trails of Monstrous Nightmare gel over the cocooned Singetails, taking it in turns to keep watch. Astrid and Viggo were in position to distract the flyers as soon as they gave the signal, whilst the twins were ready to blow up catapults. At last everything was in place; Hiccup ignited _Inferno_ and placed the tip against the gel. It caught fire immediately; the flames streaked all around and over the amber, cracking it.

“Okay, it’s go time” Hiccup declared, hurrying back to his dragon as Snotlout did the same. They took to the air as more and more cocoons exploded, freeing the Singetails. Toothless hurried to intercept a flyer heading for Astrid and Stormfly, but Moonlight got there first.

Everything was going according to plan…and then suddenly, it wasn’t. Astrid tried to take out the flyer controlling Melody, but one of the freed Singetails started attacking them. “What the-?” she asked in bewilderment as Stormfly dodged. “The Singetails aren’t going!”

Snotlout shouted, “Oh they’re going alright! Straight into the pit!” It was true; the Singetails were swarming around the island, some getting caught by Melody again. It made no sense.

To make matters worse, more flyers attacked – they must have been in reserve. As Toothless swerved to avoid the Singetails blasts, he and Moonlight trying to provide cover fire, Hiccup spotted a cave that seemed like their best hope. “Everyone in the cave, now!”

“If we go in there we’ll be trapped!” Astrid yelled.

“And if we stay out here we’ll be dead!” Hiccup retorted. “There’s too many of them!”

With no better options, the riders covered each other and rushed into the cave. Their dragons assumed defensive positions, in case the flyers or hunters tried to follow them in, but no one did. Instead they heard one hunter asking, “Should we go in and finish them?”

“No” replied the lead flyer, “our orders are to capture the riders alive. Besides, they’ve trapped themselves. This is the only way in or out of this cave. Send for Krogan. In the meantime, I want all the catapults, ballistas and archers we have left aimed right here.”

Now that they knew this wasn’t going to be a last stand, the dragons relaxed a bit. “I think I’ll call this next part, ‘chapter seven, our leader jinxed it and now we’re doomed’.”

Astrid snapped, “Do you have to say those stupid titles out loud? They’re not even good!”

“Hey, if I die, I’m gonna die complaining about Hiccup’s stupid plan” Snotlout declared.

Ruffnut asked, “Why do you think they have orders to capture us alive? Seems weird.”

Viggo calmly explained, “It’s standing orders for all of their soldiers. Johann probably wants to torture the location of your lenses out of you personally.” He started looking around.

Tuffnut remarked, “So what you’re saying is, we have the choice of a quick death by escape attempt, or a slow one from being bored to death by Johann’s stories” he joked. It fell flat, and nobody laughed. Viggo prised the lid off a barrel; a strong smell of salted fish emerged.

“At least we know the dragons won’t be hungry” he remarked, tossing a fish to Moonlight.

Toothless lit a torch off the wall for Hiccup, who said, “You guys wait here. I’m going to see what’s down this tunnel.” The answer was probably nothing. “Uh, Astrid, you coming?”

It was a thinly veiled excuse for them to be alone together, but she didn’t comment. “Sure.”

* * *

Fishlegs was less than thrilled when they approached the clearly occupied island. At least Garff was under control…kind of. He’d managed to lasso the chain from the Singetail around Garff’s horns, and tied the other end to Meatlug’s saddle. Now they were practically being towed along by the young Death Song as he followed the Singetail towards the isle.

The hunters and flyers were all gathered around a cave, but not going inside. “The others must be trapped in there” he said quietly, seeing no sign of his friends. “Oh, this is bad…”

Garff didn’t seem to notice Melody, to Fishleg’s relief. He kept following the Singetail, dragging Meatlug and Fishlegs along with him. She led them past the distracted hunters into a tunnel, and disappeared around the corner. Fishlegs heard shouts of surprise, and a couple of meaty thuds. “Oh, dear” he gulped. There were two hunters knocked out on the ground, and the Singetail was picking her way amongst a load of eggs. She snuggled up against one. “It’s a hatchery. No wonder she was so frantic to get back here” he realised.

Garff sniffed at the eggs with interest. “Hey, bad Garff. Leave them alone” Fishlegs scolded, tugging on the chain. “These guys are breeding Singetails; that’s bad, _really_ bad. Meatlug, we need to do something. Hiccup and the others need our help, but how are we gonna get past all those hunters?” he wondered. “All we have is you and me, an untrained Death Song, a lovesick mama dragon and a room full of…eggs” Fishlegs realised, getting an idea.

* * *

They walked along in silence for a while. There was no sign of hunters down the tunnel, at least. Finally, when they were well out of earshot, Hiccup spoke up. “Astrid, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah” she sighed, “me too. If Garff had come along, he might have been captured, or worse. You were right to refuse” Astrid conceded. “It’s just…the way you did it, throwing my own words back in my face…I felt _humiliated,_ Hiccup” she admitted, face crumpling.

Hiccup’s heart twisted. “I’m sorry” he repeated, reaching out to cup her face in his hand. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Astrid. It’s just, they all thought I‘d give in, cos I always do, and then _I_ felt embarrassed so I just – I was just trying to the right thing” he whispered.

Astrid reached up and squeezed his hand. “Apology accepted, babe. It was…actually kind of hot, seeing you stand up to me like that” she confessed, blushing. “And you’re right; you are the leader, and I shouldn’t have undermined that by insisting on doing what _I_ wanted.”

“I’m also your boyfriend, and I should’ve taken your feelings into account. I’ll do better next time” Hiccup promised. He kissed her forehead, and raised the torch higher. “Doesn’t seem like there’s anything or anyone down here. D’you think we should go back to the others?”

Astrid pretended to think about it. “Y’know…this _is_ the first time we’ve been alone together in ages…” she remarked, “might as well make the most of it.” Then she kissed him properly.

Meanwhile, the others were stacking crates and barrels to act as a barrier between them and the hunters. “I still think we ought to leave a space” said Tuff, “let the feng shui flow.”

“I assure you, that’s the least of our worries” Viggo commented, not letting on that he didn’t actually know what Tuffnut was talking about. “At least we’re not gonna starve” he added, chewing on some dried meat they’d found in one of the crates. It was terribly bland, but it was better than nothing. Viggo offered a strip to Moonlight, and she took it from his hand. Stroking her snout, he said, “We need as much shelter from arrows as we can get.”

“What’s the point?” Snotlout asked fatalistically. “We’re cornered, stuck between a rock and a hard place, and Krogan’s on his way to torture us. What’s taking those two so long?” he demanded, looking down the dark tunnel. “Probably wandered into a booby trap.”

“I’m sure Hiccup and Astrid will return shortly” said Viggo. “It’s more likely that they’re taking advantage of the privacy to, ah, make up for lost time as it were” he smirked.

His prediction panned out. The other two riders came back holding hands, their clothes not quite straightened and hair not quite tidied. “There’s some barracks down there, but nobody’s in them” Hiccup reported. He looked at Viggo. “Please tell me you have a plan.”

Viggo raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you? I find that hard to believe.”

“Yeah, well, considering how my last plan turned out…” Hiccup shrugged.

“It wasn’t a _terrible_ plan” Viggo reasoned. “If it weren’t for the Singetails not leaving and the enemy having more flyers than we thought, your plan probably would have worked.”

“And you couldn’t have predicted what happened with the Singetails” Astrid pointed out.

“The mistake was probably trying to do everything at once” Viggo continued, “but you could just as easily blame me for not pointing that out in the first place” he acknowledged.

“Okay, I’ll blame you for that one; but getting us stuck in here…that really was my fault.”

Astrid remarked casually, “Yeah, that pretty much was just your idea.” Hiccup pouted.

“You’re not supposed to agree with me. You’re supposed to tell me I made the best of a bad situation” he insisted. Of course, if he’d prepared more, it wouldn’t have been so bad.

“We could tell you that, but then you’d never learn would you?” she reasoned. He sighed and smiled ruefully. “Hiccup, you make hard decisions all the time, and they’re not always gonna be the right one. The important thing is that you learn from your mistakes and move forwards. Now, you two strategists ought to put your heads together and think of a plan.”

Just then, they were interrupted by the lead flyer. “Dragon riders! We have an ultimatum for your leader!” he shouted. “Hand over the traitor Grimborn, and your friends will be allowed to live! You can save yourselves and your dragons a lot of pain if you co-operate!”

Straightaway, Astrid declared “It’s a trap. Krogan’s gonna kill us no matter what we do.”

“I wasn’t planning to give them Viggo anyway” Hiccup replied. “Fake ultimatum or not.”

Snotlout commented, “Yeah, but on the off chance it _isn’t_ a trap…I mean, one person being killed, versus six people being killed - I’m just saying, the numbers don’t lie” he shrugged.

“He does have a point” said Viggo, “it’d be more prudent to use me as a bargaining chip.”

“See? Even _Viggo_ agrees with me. Don’t worry, I’ll dedicate the next chapter of my book to your memory. Chapter eight, Viggo’s…do you want it to be ‘last stand’ or ‘noble sacrifice’?”

Hiccup insisted, “We are _not_ handing him over to those guys. End of story” he said firmly.

“Hey, I’m writing this book” Snotlout retorted, “but fine, no throwing Viggo to the wolves. In that case I’ll title it, ‘chapter eight - congratulations Hiccup, you finally got us all killed’.”

“Oh, we’re not done yet, Snotlout; and you can quote me.”

“That’s the spirit!” cheered Tuffnut. “Also, can anyone else hear that weird crumbling noise, or is it just me?” he wondered. “ _Also_ , also, why does it sound so familiar? And closer?”

There _was_ an odd noise, now that they listened, a sort of scratching, crunching sound. A crack appeared in the cave wall behind Tuffnut; his sister dragged him away, and they all backed off. More and more cracks appeared, and then at last, the whole thing collapsed.

The Cavern Crasher emerged from the newly formed tunnel, scenting the air with its tongue. Then Meatlug appeared, Fishlegs on her back carrying an egg. “Hey, guys. Whoa!” He held the egg out of reach of the Crasher, who was eyeing it hungrily. “Bad dragon!”

“Stormfly, spines!” Astrid called out, and the Nadder lashed her tail. There was a familiar three note squawk, and Garff slipped out of the tunnel behind Meatlug, happily reuniting with Stormfly. “Garff! Hey, boy, what are you doing here? And…why is there a chain around your horns?” she demanded.

Fishlegs winced. “Um, sorry, I was using it as a leash” he admitted, cringing under Astrid’s glare. “Hiccup, there’s a whole load of eggs back there. Krogan’s been breeding the Singetails” he explained.

“ _That’s_ why they didn’t fly away” Hiccup realised, “it’s instinct to defend their eggs.”

“Okay, third title! ‘Chapter eight, don’t bring an egg-eating dragon to an island full of eggs’, _duh_ ” Snotlout announced, as their dragons kept the Cavern Crasher busy. “I can’t believe you brought that thing here, Fishface. What was your end game here?” he demanded.

“Err, end game?”

“How were you planning on _getting rid of this thing!_ ”

“Yeah, I didn’t really think that far ahead.” 

Snotlout rolled his eyes. “Oh, for the love of Thor.” He mounted up and snatched the egg out of Fishlegs’ hands. “Give me that! Hooky and I have this creep’s number, so we’ll handle him. The rest of you get those dragons freed. Chapter nine, it’s up to the Snot, _again._ Come on, slime-ball, let’s dance!” he taunted the Cavern Crasher, luring it away with the egg.

Hookfang and Snotlout disappeared down the new tunnel, and the Cavern Crasher scurried after them. There was a stunned silence. Then Hiccup declared, “Well, you heard the man!”

* * *

The hunters had no idea what was going on in that cave. They’d heard the dragons firing blasts, and raised voices, but couldn’t make out what the riders were saying. It sounded as if the riders were fighting amongst themselves. Then silence resumed for a few minutes, before their leader called out “Uh, outside people? I’d like to discuss terms of surrender.”

 _It’s about time_ the lead flyer thought; he’d been bored. “How about surrender or die?”

“Oh, interesting” the boy said mock-thoughtfully, stepping into view. “All right, let me just, uh, consult with my colleague, the Cavern Crasher. Oh, oh, wait. It seems he's tunnelled a new exit. Here's our counteroffer” he smirked. There was an explosion behind them. The riders had gotten out, through the hatchery somehow, and were blasting their defences.

The hunters and flyers rushed to defend their base. “Unleash the Death Song!” ordered the lead flyer. The amber-spitting dragon was unmuzzled, but then _another_ one appeared, and they both started spitting it at the _hunters_ instead. “Oh no you don’t!” he yelled, driving his Singetail towards the Death Song. Before he could make the dragon blast it, Astrid swooped down on Stormfly and knocked him off. The smaller Death Song engulfed him in amber.

Seeing their leader downed, the other flyers retreated. “Move out, come on! Fall back!”

After that, it was just a matter of clearing up. They freed the recaptured Singetails, who were more interested in getting to their eggs once the riders and dragons backed off. Meatlug and Stormfly combined their fire to release Melody, who flew up to reunite with Garff. The two of them sang to one another and flew off together, Garff leading the way.

Hiccup slipped an arm around Astrid’s waist as they watched the reunited dragons flying free again. “Y’know, it was worth all the risk in the world just to see that” he smiled happily.

Fishlegs came over to them. “That’s the last of the eggs” he reported with a grin.

“So much for breeding Singetails. Krogan will be really disappointed” Viggo smirked.

Astrid inquired, “Do you think Snotlout needs help with the Cavern Crasher?”

“Ah, he’s probably writing about his adventure as we speak” Tuffnut said confidently. “Unless it killed him, or the mother killed him, in which case, probably not.”

Astrid rolled her eyes at him. “I’m gonna go catch up with Snotlout” she decided, giving Hiccup a kiss on the cheek before heading over to Stormfly and vaulting into the saddle.

When it was just him and Hiccup, Viggo remarked, “It’s good to see you two made up.”

“Yeah…” Out of curiosity, Hiccup asked “What _was_ your relationship advice going to be?”

“Always apologise first, even if you’re not in the wrong.”

“…Really?”

Viggo shrugged. “It’s what I did with my betrothed” he confessed. “Worked every time.”

Hiccup was surprised. “You’re married?” he asked. Then again, the man was old enough…

“I was, but then…till death do us part happened sooner than expected” replied Viggo.

 _Oh no._ Hiccup winced sympathetically. “I am….so sorry” he murmured.

“It was years ago. Don’t worry about me” Viggo assured him, “I’ve come to terms with it.”

He didn’t quite believe that, but decided to let it slide. “Come on gang, let’s head back to the Edge.”

“Last one there is an egg-for-brains!” crowed Toothless once they were in the air. He darted forwards and Moonlight raced after him, their riders yelling in thrilled excitement.


	7. Final Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoy the chapter. Side note – I reworked the Dreamworks RTTE map to fit my version of events: https://www.deviantart.com/10blue10/art/Barbaric-Archipelago-Map-Comparison-841377097

To celebrate their victory the day before, Hiccup figured his team deserved a morning off. They would still do patrols and leap into action if anything untoward occurred, but for now they were just hanging out in the arena, grooming their dragons. Scales were being shed all over the place. “Do you guys _ever_ stop moulting?” Snotlout complained to Hookfang, who flamed up and shook himself, spraying bits of still burning loose scales everywhere. “Aaah!”

“Hey, you know what would be really creepy?” Tuffnut grinned sinisterly. “If the dragons shed like snakes, and left husks everywhere. Man, the pranks we could play with those…”

Hiccup deadpanned, “And there’s the first mental image none of us wanted.” The others chuckled. “Don’t get rid of the scales, though” he continued, “just stick them in the baskets. I have an idea for how to use them but I’m going to need a _lot_ of scales” Hiccup revealed.

“What’s your idea?” Astrid inquired curiously, scrubbing between Stormfly’s wings.

He shook his head. “It’s a surprise. You guys are gonna love it though, trust me.”

“A surprise, you say?” Ruffnut drawled. “Maybe a better word would be….a _secret_?”

“And who better to sniff out a secret than a couple of sleuths?” Tuffnut remarked.

Hiccup retorted, “Jokes on you guys, I haven’t started working on it yet.”

“Eh, you’ll have a design sketched on parchment” Ruffnut said confidently. “We’ll find it.”

“You two go looking through my stuff and you’re mucking out the stables for a month.”

Snotlout groaned over-dramatically. “Oh, _great._ Hiccup’s gone into tyrant mode again.”

Indignant, his cousin protested “I am not going into…what do you mean, _again_?”

“Last time was when you overworked our dragons to the point of insanity” replied Snotlout.

“That was the grimora! And I said I was sorry. I was only pushing so much because we needed to defend the Edge against Viggo” – Hiccup cut himself off with a wince, cringing.

The dragons rumbled uncertainly. Their riders couldn’t meet each other’s eyes, and Viggo’s mouth was a thin line. “Awk-ward” Tuffnut singsonged, in a weak attempt to lift the mood. He then noticed an even better distraction. “Oh hey, a T-mail! C’mere little guy, come to Uncle Tuffnut!” he called eagerly, holding his hands out. The tiny dragon squawked and dive-bombed him, latching onto Tuffnut’s face. “OW! I am hurt! I am very much hurt!”

Hiccup whistled; the Terror immediately flew over to him and perched on his outstretched arm. He removed a note tied to the little guy’s leg and fed him a fish as a reward. Rolling out the scroll, Hiccup read the contents, and frowned. He looked up at Viggo. “It’s from Trygge. It says he has what you – we – need, but the rendezvous…it looks like a trap to me.”

Viggo took the note from Hiccup and scanned it himself. “Yes, I see what you mean.”

“We chose the first island because they couldn’t have set up an ambush without us seeing it from a mile away, but not on this one.” Hiccup grimaced. “There‘s a forest, boulders, it’d be easy for them to hide in wait…but they wouldn’t be able to conceal any ballistas, at least. Do you think they’ve heard about the attack on that base yesterday?” he wondered.

“It wouldn’t surprise me” Viggo sighed. “After all, the only thing that travels faster than a dragon is rumours. The whole army will know about my involvement yesterday by now.”

“Well, we can’t back out now; there’s still a chance you can get the information out of him” Hiccup reasoned. He searched a mental map and decided, “We’ll all go. Once we have the information we need, we can head straight to Berk to discuss the plan and get back-up.”

Everyone nodded, except Snotlout. “I’m not sure I want to be taking orders from a tyrant” he declared stubbornly. Astrid walked over and flipped him onto his back, pinning him.

“You do realise that if Hiccup wasn’t in charge, I would be, right?” she asked dangerously.

“…On second thoughts, Hiccup is fine. Can you please get off? You’re crushing my ribs.”

Rolling her eyes, Astrid took her foot off Snotlout’s chest and hauled him back to his feet. He dusted himself off. Hiccup turned to Viggo and asked him, “Do you think we should get there early and set a trap for them, or get there late and see if they’ve set a trap for us?”

“It’s good to see you thinking ahead” Viggo remarked approvingly. “As for your question…I’d say later. Just to allow for the slight possibility that this isn’t actually a trap.”

Hiccup gave a nod. “We’ll get to the location on time and keep an eye out for what kind of ambush they’ve set. Then you can get what we need out of Trygge whilst we deal with anyone else he brings, and Moonlight will get you out of there if he attacks” he told Viggo.

“Your concern is touching, but I can defend myself” the older man insisted. “I’ll even take the new shield with me, just in case they fire any arrows” he teased good-naturedly. In truth he’d been wanting an opportunity to use Hiccup’s present in battle for a while now.

Astrid came over and inquired curiously, “So what island are we going to, anyway?”

Before Viggo could answer, Hiccup said quickly, “It’s not far. You’ll see when we get there.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously; she plucked the letter out of Viggo’s hand before he could stop her and skimmed through it. “Sleipnir Island? What’s the big deal about…Oh, right.”

“Yeah” Hiccup sighed, “look, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t want things to get awkward again.”

Snotlout protested, “Hiccup, your new mentor is the same guy who once put a bounty on your head so he could murder you personally! How will that ever _not_ be awkward?”

Rather than waste his breath arguing, Hiccup declared “Viggo and I are going on patrol. Astrid, you’re in charge until I get back.” The two of them mounted up and left before anyone could stop them. They flew in silence for a while, side by side. At last, Hiccup spoke. “I’m sorry about Snotlout. He’s just…being himself. Looking for any excuse to dislike you.”

“He has good reason to” Viggo retorted. Before Hiccup could protest, he said “I wasn’t…”

Hiccup looked at him in confusion, and he grimaced slightly. Meeting Hiccup’s eyes, Viggo confessed, “I wasn’t…going to kill you that time. I told Ryker I wanted to kill you so he wouldn’t be as tempted to do it himself, like he wanted to. It was the only way he’d listen.”

Feeling a bit stunned; he hadn’t expected this; Hiccup said, “But he would have noticed if you hadn’t killed me. What _were_ you going to do?” he asked, rather morbidly curious.

“Hold you for ransom until your allies gave into my demands” Viggo answered. “You were more valuable to me as a hostage, given your status as heir. Besides, you had – and still have - so much potential; it would have been a shame to waste it all getting revenge.”

That course of action was more preferable than the alternative, Hiccup supposed. “What if I’d escaped, or been rescued?” he questioned, noticing a possible flaw in Viggo’s plan.

“Well, you _were_ rescued, and you did escape, and what did I do after that?” asked Viggo.

Hiccup thought about it, and realised, “You switched tactics. Instead of threatening me to get a concession out of Berk, you tried to threaten Berk to get a concession out of me.” Something else occurred to him. “When I was trying to free the Submaripper, your ship kept throwing rocks at us, trying to rile it up. Did you decide I wasn’t valuable, after all?”

Viggo sighed. “I was getting desperate. Part of me wanted you dead, part of me didn’t…it seemed my only options were to force you into a surrender or have you killed in action. If it had come down to me killing you myself…I don’t know if I’d have been able to” he replied.

Whenever Viggo had plotted to kill him before, it had always been detached. Someone or something else would have ended his life, even if Viggo was the one who put it in motion. Yet every single time he’d been at Viggo’s mercy, his life had been spared. Back then, Hiccup had assumed it was because his rival wished to toy with him, to not let the game end. Now, though, he wondered. “Hey, Viggo? Can I ask you something…personal?”

“If you like. I can’t promise I’ll answer, though.”

That was fair. “How come you’ve always had such an…interest in me?” Hiccup inquired.

The other man was silent for a long moment, looking ahead. Finally he admitted, “You remind me of someone I used to know. I’d rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, sorry, I don’t mean to pry” Hiccup said apologetically. It was none of his business, really. To lighten the mood he playfully suggested, “You wanna race to the other side?”

“Oh, go on then” said Viggo, feigning reluctance. “Shall we start on three?” he asked.

“Sure. Three!” Hiccup grinned, letting the tail-fin out. Toothless shot forwards. Viggo chuckled and urged Moonlight to give chase, hunkering down to reduce some of the drag.

* * *

Later, the riders arrived at Sleipnir Island, and hovered above it. A lone man stood waiting on the cliff, but they could see figures concealed in the trees, and behind boulders. Dragon hunters, armed with crossbows no doubt, waiting to ambush them and their dragons. “So much for it not being a trap” Hiccup sighed. “At least they haven’t seen us” he added.

They landed on the far side of the island. “So what’s the plan?” Astrid inquired of Hiccup.

“Working on it” he replied. “I mean we have the element of surprise, but if they don’t see the dragons, Viggo might be able to convince them he’s not working with us after all.”

Ruffnut offered, “Would you like us to use our stealth skills and put knives in their backs?”

“You can count on us. We shall be like a fart of egg” declared Tuffnut, “silent, and deadly.”

Hiccup said “Okay, one, that’s gross, and two, I don’t want you to stab anyone in the back.”

“Gee, I wonder who they could’ve gotten _that_ idea from” Snotlout drawled, giving Viggo a pointed look. Hiccup glared at him, and even Hookfang growled. Whose side was he on?

“Hey!” Ruffnut snapped, “Viggo didn’t give us the idea! You don’t think Tuff and I are twisted enough to come up with something like this on our own? _Insulting_ ” she scoffed.

Toothless gave a small roar to get their attention. “Okay, here’s the plan” announced Hiccup. “Viggo will go talk to Trygge whilst Moonlight watches from above. Astrid, Ruff and Tuff, you guys use your stealth skills to take out the waiting hunters – _without_ stabbing them. Unless it’s in self-defence. The rest of us and your dragon are backup; I’ll watch Astrid’s back, Snotlout, you watch Tuffnut’s back, and Fishlegs watches Ruffnut’s. Got it?”

The others nodded. Hiccup looked at Viggo and quipped, “So d’you wanna point out any last minute flaws, or…?”

“Why would I?” Viggo asked mildly. “It’s a good plan. So, shall we?”

They mounted up again, and got as close to the hunters as they could before Astrid and the twins dismounted. Viggo and Moonlight went around to the cliffs, and she landed at the base of them near a path of sorts to the top. “Don’t worry about me” he assured her, patting her neck before making his way up the steep climb to reach the top of the cliff.

“Sir? Is that you?” Trygge asked cautiously when he appeared.

“Yes, it’s me. I take it you have what I need from you” he remarked, looking expectant.

“Aye, sir. And…” he lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I have something even better.”

Viggo was careful to keep his face a mask. “Oh? What would that be?” he inquired lightly.

Trygge explained “You see sir, a few of us aren’t exactly…satisfied with working for Krogan, if you know what I mean. We want _you_ to be our leader” he revealed. “There’s a boat waiting. We can leave this Thor-forsaken archipelago and start again somewhere else.”

This was unexpected news indeed, but Viggo showed no outward sign of surprise. “I assume these are the same men who are waiting in the shadows with crossbows” he surmised. The other man hesitated. “Really, now, did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

“That’s just in case the dragon riders intercepted my note and try to interfere” replied Trygge. “You know, it’s crazy. There are flyers saying you joined those brats, and you have a Skrill now. I didn’t believe it though” he declared proudly, “I know you’re loyal to the cause, Viggo. Once a dragon hunter, always a dragon hunter. So, what do you say? Are you in?”

From behind Trygge, there were a distinct cracking sound, and a hastily muffled cry. One of the hunters must have been taken out by Astrid or the twins. “What was that?” he demanded, turning quickly for such a large man. Viggo had to keep the man distracted.

“The rumours you’ve heard do have a glimmer of truth” he admitted. Trygge stared at him in surprise. “I’ve burned my bridges with Krogan and Johann, but I still needed allies. I wasn’t sure whom amongst the army I could trust, but the dragon riders leader was all too willing to trust me when I told him of my betrayal. I’m not finished using him; so please, tell me what I need to know, and I will definitely consider your generous offer” he declared.

Viggo didn’t mean it, of course. To his relief, however, Trygge believed the lie. Why wouldn’t he? “Of course, sir” he nodded. “Don’t worry, I haven’t told any of those guys about this; but as best as I can figure, the Eye and lenses are being kept in Johann’s personal chamber. I mean, the cave he picked out for himself. You know where that is?”

Viggo nodded. “Yes, I remember. Thank you, Trygge; you’ve been a great help to me. I consider your debt repaid in full” he smiled pleasantly, offering a friendly handshake.

“To be honest, sir, I don’t. I should be saving _your_ life” Trygge claimed, “but if you’re sure” – They heard branches cracking and a heavy _thump_ in the distance, behind the trees. The hunter frowned, and looked behind him. He called out, “What’s going on back there?!”

Ruffnut had been sneaking up on a hunter when her foot caught on a root and she stumbled. He turned at the sound of her gasp, seen her, and she’d fled. The hunter gave chase, cornering her in a small clearing with his crossbow aimed right at her chest – and a rock clonked him on the helmet. He staggered and slumped to the ground. Surprised, Ruffnut looked up to see Meatlug and Fishlegs hovering overhead. He had _saved her life._

Meanwhile, Viggo hastily declared, “Well! I should really be going - don’t want to arouse suspicion, now do we? I’ll leave first, and then you and the rest can return to base. I’ll send word once I’m ready to join you.” Trygge looked uncertain, but he nodded slowly.

With that done, Viggo turned and walked away towards the path down the cliffside. Moonlight met him halfway, and he jumped onto her back, then she rejoined the others.

Toothless came up alongside them, carrying two riders. “Did you get the information?” Hiccup inquired, as his girlfriend expertly moved from Night Fury to Nadder in midair.

“According to Trygge, the Dragon Eye and lenses are in Johann’s personal cave; fortunately I know exactly where that is” Viggo replied confidently. “He also told me something more interesting – apparently, that lot wants to defect from Krogan and Johann. They’re not really ‘satisfied’ working for those two, and they want _me_ to be their leader instead.”

Tuffnut frowned in confusion, and asked, “Err, do they know you’re one of us now or not?”

“They’ve heard the rumours about me joining, but they don’t believe it” explained Viggo, “or at least, Trygge doesn’t. I had to keep him thinking I was on his side, so I played along.”

Hiccup remarked “Well, the important thing is we have what we need. Let’s head to Berk.”

* * *

Viggo looked pensive as they approached Berk, and a little apprehensive, if Hiccup didn’t know any better. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked the older man, winging closer to him.

“I’m about to land on an island full of people who have good reason to want me dead…but aside from that, yes” replied Viggo. He really _was_ apprehensive, much to Hiccup’s surprise.

“It’s gonna be fine. If anyone has a problem with you being there, they can take it up with me.” Moonlight rumbled and hissed. “Or with her. That works too” Hiccup deadpanned. Viggo smirked a bit in amusement. They flew in formation over the village, and landed in the all but deserted plaza. There were several dragons hanging around, and a few Berkians.

The riders dismounted. A _thud-thock_ sound rang out as Gobber trudged out of the smithy, screwing his tankard-hand onto the stump of his arm. “Well, if it isn’t Berk’s own band of intrepid explorers! Nice to see you all on your semi-annual trip back home” he teased.

“Come on, Gobber, we’ve been busy” Hiccup retorted.

“Aye! Heard you got yourself a new mentor.” Gobber nodded over his shoulder at Viggo.

“Please don’t start fighting over me” Hiccup snarked. “Where is everyone?”

Gobber waved his tankard about. “In the Great Hall, o’ course, where else? It’s lunchtime.”

“Oh, thank Thor” Snotlout groaned. “We get to eat first, right? Cos I am _starving._ ”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow and asked, “Do you ever think of anything but your stomach?”

Snotlout smirked and proudly boasted, “I think of everything _with_ my stomach.”

“That would explain a lot” Viggo muttered to Hiccup, who snickered. His cousin glared.

The riders and blacksmith made their way to the Hall, whilst their dragons went off to eat at the feeding stations. Gobber pushed the doors open. The cavernous room beyond was filled with Berkians eating, drinking, arm-wrestling…slowly the chatter died away. It was replaced by muttering. The Hooligans were a lot of things, but subtle wasn’t one of them.

“It’s Viggo.”

“What were they thinking?”

“-his _face_.”

Stoick’s voice boomed above them all. “Everyone calm down” he ordered from his seat at the high table. “I’ve told all you before, Viggo is our ally now. Go back to your meals.”

Now that their chief had reassured them, the villagers gradually returned to eating. “Thanks, dad” Hiccup said gratefully when he, Gobber and Viggo reached the head table.

“Ah, don’t mention it. Welcome back” Stoick grinned at his son. “What brings you to Berk?”

“Because we were on a mission away from the Edge and Berk was closer” Hiccup replied bluntly. “…Also I need to talk to Spitelout and Gustav. We need their help” he continued.

Stoick nodded in understanding. They all sat down to meals of simple but filling fare; bread, cheese, roast mutton and fish, washed down with plenty of beer and water. “So, Hiccup, how’re these ‘strategy lessons’ going?” Gobber inquired, eating his lunch one-handed.

“Great” Hiccup answered, mouth still half full. He swallowed and said, “I’ve learned loads.”

Viggo, who was sitting on his other side, remarked “You’ve learned quickly, too. I honestly haven’t needed to teach you that much; most of it you’d already figured out on your own.”

“Yeah, but that was from trying to outsmart you when we were mortal enemies” Hiccup retorted, before remarking to Gobber, “I’d help out in the forge, but we’re gonna be doing some last minute training. You don’t happen to have any spare bolas lying around, do you?”

The old blacksmith replied, “Eh, maybe? Shouldn’t take you too long to whip a few up if we don’t; unless yer too busy training, o’ course. Some apprentice you are” he grumbled.

Viggo’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Surely you have another apprentice by now?” he inquired, trying to be tactful. “I mean, Hiccup hasn’t been living on Berk for almost two years.”

“Ah, I get some of the wee ones to help out with the easy stuff now and again” the blacksmith answered, “but just because I ain’t a young man anymore don’t mean I can’t run this forge one handed. Which I have been, since before the lad was born” he boasted. “I taught him everything _he_ knows about blacksmithing, but not everything _I_ know about it.”

“Oh, I’ve no doubt; but still, perhaps you should train another apprentice” Viggo suggested, “given that Hiccup is going to inherit as chief, and all.” He noticed a reluctant grimace flash over the young man’s face when Gobber and Stoick weren’t looking. _That’s interesting…_

Gobber shrugged. “I s’pose you got a point there” he admitted, “but I dunno who else could fit the bill. Besides, once he’s chief picking a replacement will be _his_ problem, not mine.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes, and looked relieved when a change of subject came up from the other side of the table. “Err, Ruffnut…what are you doing?” Fishlegs asked as she started to massage his shoulders. He sounded rather perturbed. “I mean, it’s nice, but…why?”

“It’s the least I can do for the man who saved my life, right?” she replied innocently.

Everyone stared at her in surprise. “Saved your life?” Astrid repeated. “When, exactly?”

“Back on that island. One of those jerks cornered me, and he was all”, Ruff mimed someone aiming a crossbow, “and then Fishlegs was all”, she mimed something being dropped from a height, “and then he went”, she mimed slumping to the ground, her tongue lolling out. Abruptly returning to her massage, Ruffnut said “Now I just need to repay my life debt!”

Turning crimson, Fishlegs protested, “Um, no, you really don’t. We’re supposed to watch out for each other, we don’t keep score. I mean, I’m flattered, but…Brenda?” His brow furrowed all of a sudden, and he squinted over Ruffnut’s shoulder. “What are you three doing back there? Come on out” he prompted. Slowly, a trio of blonde children sidled out from behind a pillar; a girl and two boys, one of whom had his fringe covering his eyes.

“Greetings, junior dragon explorers! I see you three are still being devious and sneaky” Tuffnut noted approvingly, “but if you _really_ want to learn from the best, you oughta ask Viggo here to teach you. He might have a blind side, but you can get nothing past him.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Tuffnut, but I don’t think teaching children stealth and ambush techniques would be that appropriate. So, can I ask for an introduction, or…?”

“I’m Brenda, that’s Brant and Shrug. He doesn’t say much” the girl explained, gesturing to the two boys, who must have been her brothers. “Our mum says you’re a bad guy” she added.

“I was a bad person” he admitted. “Now I’m not. Or at least I’m trying not to be.”

Brant asked bluntly, “What happened to your face?”

“Hey” Fishlegs snapped, “Don’t be rude.”

“Sorry, Uncle Fishlegs” he said contritely, before asking Viggo in a more polite tone, “Mister, please can you tell us what happened to your face?”

Fishlegs sighed, but Viggo was just amused. He replied, “I was burned by lava.”

“Like from a Gronckle?” asked Brenda.

“Actually, I fell into a volcano” Viggo said casually. “They all thought I was dead, but I lived.”

“ _Woah_ ” the kids said in unison, sounding impressed. Then Brenda demanded, “Hiccup, we want a ride on Toothless…please?” she added when her uncle frowned at her. “Can we?”

Hiccup hesitated. “Well, we have training to do, so we’re going to be rather busy…” he trailed off when they gave him a triple dose of puppy-dog eyes. Even Shrug pushed his hair out of his eyes and pouted. Hiccup sighed. “Maybe later” he agreed, and they all cheered. Stoick shooed the youngsters away, whilst everyone else had a chuckle at Hiccup’s expense.

* * *

After lunch, all the riders except Snotlout headed to the training ring. It wasn’t long before Snotlout joined them, along with his father and a teenage boy riding a Monstrous Nightmare, who must have been Gustav. “Hey guys. Heard you needed us for a top-secret dangerous mission” the teen announced, “luckily for you, you came to the right person.”

“I like your enthusiasm” said Hiccup. The riders gathered round, and he began to explain the plan. “The mission has two objectives – to steal Johann’s Dragon Eye and lenses so they can no longer search for the King of Dragons, _and_ to free any dragons, including Singetails, that they’re keeping prisoner. We’re going to split into four teams – me and Viggo, Fishlegs and – would you two focus? D’you want to be involved in this prank or not?” he asked.

Ruff and Tuff, who had started scuffling with each other, turned to him with wide eyes.

“What prank?” they asked in eerily perfect unison. “Stop copying me!” they snapped.

Hiccup sighed. “ _This_ prank, on Johann? Where we break into his base and steal from him?”

“You didn’t say it was a prank!” Ruffnut protested. “You used boring words like ‘mission’, and ‘objective’. See, _now_ you’re speaking our language. Proceed, oh one-legged leader.”

“You have our undivided attention” declared Tuffnut, his expression a bug-eyed stare.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Hiccup continued. “Like I was saying, you’re with Fishlegs. Astrid, you’re with Snotlout, then Spitelout and Gustav pair up. So, team one is going to” –

“How come you guys get to be team one?” Snotlout demanded, looking at him and Viggo.

Hiccup bluntly replied, “Because I’m the leader.”

“Yeah, well Astrid is your second in command…so does that mean she and I are team two?”

“You know what? Sure” Hiccup agreed, just to shut him up. “Viggo and I are going to infiltrate the base and retrieve the Dragon Eye. We just got hold of insider knowledge about where it’s located, and we’re gonna wear disguises, so we should be in and out in no time. Fishlegs, you and the twins are going to find and free any dragons they have imprisoned, and you want to leave any… _surprises_ for the hunters, be my guest” he told Ruff and Tuff.

“The rest of you are going to distract and take out the flyers.” He turned to Astrid. “Toothless can’t come with me, for obvious reasons, so I need you to ride him instead.”

Astrid scratched the purring Night Fury under the chin. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry” she reassured her fiancé, before cooing, “We’ll be such a good team, right, Toothless?”

Gustav nervously asked, “Wait, so, just the _four_ of us, against all those Singetails?”

“You’re scared? I thought you said we’d come to the right person” Snotlout mocked.

“Uh…I was talking about him” the teen said hastily, pointing at Spitelout. “Not _me._ ”

Hiccup decided to interrupt them. “Gustav, relax. We’re way ahead of you on that.” He looked at Viggo and suggested, “You should tell ‘em this part; it was your idea, after all.”

With a nod, Viggo explained “Moonlight can’t follow us into the base for the same reason as Toothless, so she’s going to be our secret weapon. All you have to do is throw bolas’ around the flyers you can’t dismount yourself, and her lightning will take care of the rest.”

“And as a bonus, having Moonlight flying around without a rider will throw off the talk about Viggo joining us” Hiccup continued. “So if worst comes to worst, and we don’t get the Eye, there’ll still be a way for us to get insider information. So, are there any questions?”

Spitelout drawled, “Eh, I’ve got more of a suggestion, really. That we swap places” he told Hiccup. “You stay with your dragon, and _I’ll_ go with him to fetch the Dragon Eye.”

“That won’t work, I’m afraid. We only have two disguises, and one of them won’t fit you.”

“What kind of disguises are you guys gonna wear, anyway?” Snotlout wondered.

Viggo answered, “What better disguise to infiltrate the base than a hunter and a flyer? That’s why the disguise won’t fit you, Spitelout; the flyers are closer to Hiccup’s build.”

Ruffnut pulled a face. “Wait, doesn’t that mean you’d be wearing you-know-what skin?”

Hiccup sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. I’m not looking forward to it, believe me, but it’s for the greater good. So, are there any more questions, or are you all clear on the plan?” he asked. They all nodded, even the twins. They really had paid attention, it seemed. “Great. We’ll spend the night here on Berk, then head to Dragon’s Edge first thing after breakfast, prepare for the mission, and be at the base by sundown. For now, let’s get practicing.”

* * *

The riders all met up again in the training ring after dinner. Fewer people had stared at Viggo this time. Or at least they hadn’t stared so openly, which was something. The conversation meandered until Tuffnut declared, “I’ve got it! Let’s play the ‘what if’ game.”

“I’ve got an easy one” said Snotlout. “What if the twins stopped asking dumb questions? Answer, we’d all be better off. Next!” He laughed, but then Ruff knocked him to the floor.

Her brother commented, “Well that’s a boring one. Ooh, I know. What if…Dagur hadn’t escaped Outcast Island, and we’d never left Berk?” he asked. Then he slumped. “No, wait, that’s another easy one. Berk would have been destroyed. I mean, like, utterly smashed.”

Everyone else looked sceptical. “Oh yeah, and how do you figure that?” asked Hiccup.

“I’m glad you asked. See, if we never left Berk, Ruffnut and I would have kept dedicating ourselves to Loki, and with pranks you go big, or you go home” Tuffnut explained. He and his sister then proceeded to describe an increasingly bizarre and dangerous series of pranks, which culminated in the whole village being engaged in an all-out prank war. “The most epic prank war in Berk history, pitting dragon and Viking against Viking and dragon!”

There was a stunned, incredulous silence from everyone else. Fishlegs declared, “That’s _ridiculous_. Our tribe is far too civilised to resort to such savagery” he said primly, “or at least it would be if we hadn’t left Berk. I would have kept teaching the children about living in peace and harmony with dragons, and with each other. Ushering in an era of tranquility.”

Fishlegs’ dreamy smile was wiped off his face when Snotlout exclaimed, “Boring! My turn. If we never left Berk, I’d still be Gobber’s official weapons tester, and naturally I’d have been promoted to ‘official weapons _inventor_ ’. Then one day, I would have crafted – nay, I _shall_ craft the most glorious weapon ever known to Vikings – the legendary mace-axe-sword.”

“How can it be legendary if you invent it first?” Astrid inquired sceptically.

“It would _become_ legendary, duh! And so would I,” Snotlout grinned to himself. “All of Berk would recognise my talent. My ultimate weapon would make Gobber cry tears of joy, I’d have the proudest dad in the archipelago, Astrid would make a pair of boots and beg me to let her place them on my – aaargh!” he yelled as Astrid threw him to the stone floor.

“That will _never_ happen, in this or any other life. If we never left Berk, I’d have joined the guard, Fishlegs would be teaching, you and the twins would be doing whatever it is you do.”

Ruffnut took up the list and blithely went on, “Dagur would still be deranged, Viggo would still be a dragon hunter, Hiccup would still be living in the past, and Johann would still be”-

“Woah, woah, hang on” Hiccup cut in, “What do you mean, I’d still be living in the past?”

“Ah, you know, looking for more dragons, not moving on with your life” she answered with a dismissive wave. “He was _obsessed_ ” Ruffnut told Viggo, who had been listening with an unreadable expression on his face. “Hiccup was so desperate to find new dragons that we made him think _our_ dragon was a new species. You should’ve seen the look on his face!”

Right now, Hiccup looked annoyed. Astrid leapt to his defence, sneering “Oh like you two can talk. At least he wasn’t bothering anyone, what good were your stupid pranks gonna do?” Indignant, Ruff and Tuff started arguing with her; the other teens joined in, all talking over each other – then a harsh metallic screech from Moonlight rent the air, startling them.

Viggo glared sternly at them all. “You know, it’s _fascinating._ Exactly how the six of you can make a formidable team in battle, and still be immature brats outside of it, is beyond me.”

Feeling insulted, Astrid said hotly, “I am so _sick_ of you being a condescending ass”-

“I’ll treat you like an adult when you behave like one” he scolded, cutting her off. “Did you even hear yourselves just now? You’re supposed to be nineteen years old, not _nine_.”

Even the dragons looked disapproving. “Humans nearly full grown, my flank” Hookfang snorted. “Bicker like hatchlings over might-have-beans.” Their riders had the decency to look ashamed of themselves, especially Hiccup. He was the leader, for crying out loud, it was his job to break up this sort of pointless argument. Instead he’d gotten involved.

Astrid’s honour prompted her to be the bigger person. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, Ruff.”

“Ah, it’s okay. You were probably right anyway. I’m sorry for making fun of you, Hiccup.”

“It’s alright. I mean, I was kinda obsessed” he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “The truth is…if you must know, just before we found out Dagur had escaped, I was going to…ask my dad about giving me chiefing lessons. But _please_ don’t tell him I said that” Hiccup begged them hastily, grimacing. “If he knew about this I’d never hear the end of it.”

His friends glanced at each other. “You say that like it’s a bad thing” said Astrid. “You’re gonna need chiefing lessons sooner or later; after all, you are the heir to Berk’s throne.”

The same reluctant grimace from earlier crossed Hiccup’s face. “I know, but…now’s just not a good time” he pointed out. Suddenly he looked at Toothless. “What’s that bud? You want to go for a flight around the island at sunset like we always do?” Hiccup asked rhetorically. Toothless stared at him like he’d lost his mind. Hiccup got in the saddle. “You know how he loves flying at dusk. Don’t wait up for us, guys. Goodnight” he rambled, and they took off.


	8. The Mission

“Me and my big mouth…couldn’t just make something up…gods know what they’re gonna think now” Hiccup muttered to himself. Would it have been so hard to think of a lie?

Toothless rolled his eyes a bit, and glanced behind him. “Moonlight is following us.”

Hiccup looked over his shoulder to see the Skrill gaining on them. “Let’s not make it easy on them, shall we?” he suggested. Toothless raced towards the sea stacks; Moonlight kept pace with them easily. They flew right into the maze of stone pillars, swerving left and right. He and Hiccup knew the routes through these stacks by heart; their pursuers wouldn’t stand a chance. Once they were out the other side, Hiccup glanced behind them again.

There was no sign of Moonlight. “That was impressive” remarked Viggo, from ahead of them. Toothless back-winged and hovered as the Skrill suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Woah!” Hiccup yelled, jolting in the saddle. “What the…how did you overtake us?”

Viggo chuckled. “You know you can just fly _over_ the sea stacks, right?” he asked pointedly.

Even Toothless looked embarrassed. The dragons landed on top of one of the larger pillars, and their riders dismounted. “Okay, you got me. I really thought Astrid would be the first to follow me out here” Hiccup commented, sitting down with his legs dangling off the edge.

“She was going to, but I convinced her that given I’m a chief myself - well, former chief – I could offer you some advice” Viggo explained. “Right now she’s ensuring that the others do as you asked and keep their word not to tell your father” he went on, “so you can do it.”

“What part of ‘I’d never hear the end of it’ did you not understand?” Hiccup deadpanned.

Raising an eyebrow, Viggo commented, “I realise this is a rather personal question, but I’m starting to wonder…do you actually _want_ to be chief of Berk?” he asked bluntly. As he suspected, Hiccup quickly turned red and started fidgeting, like he wanted to run but had nowhere to go. Coming out to the sea stacks was a mistake. “I’ll take that as a no, shall I?”

“I, err…w-what makes you think I don’t?” Hiccup stammered, flushing crimson.

“Oh, I don’t know. The fact that you’re turning redder than a lobster and trying to avoid the topic is a bit of a giveaway” Viggo snarked. “Also, when I mentioned the topic at lunch, it looked like you…what’s that turn of phrase Tuffnut uses? Ah, like someone had pissed in your yak milk. Just like when Astrid made the very good point that you _are_ Stoick’s heir.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and it’s not like I asked for that, is it?” he muttered bitterly.

“Perhaps not, but nobody asks for what they’re born into. So is that the problem? You don’t want to be chief simply because it’s your father’s job, or is there something else going on?”

Glaring at him, Hiccup snapped, “I don’t see how this is any of your business, actually.”

Viggo shrugged and began to get to his feet. “Suit yourself. Moonlight and I will bid you goodnight and leave you to your sulking” he remarked, strolling back over to his dragon.

“Wait!” Hiccup called out. Viggo paused. “I - I’m sorry. It’s just…hard to talk about this stuff” the young man confessed. Toothless nuzzled him. “Um…what’s your advice?” he asked.

“Not the kind you want to hear, I imagine. If I were you, I _would_ start training to be chief.” Sure enough, Hiccup looked uncomfortable. “Can I ask why it is you don’t want to?” Viggo inquired curiously. “Surely it’s not because you don’t have the talent for it. You’re fair, decisive, and you can handle leading the riders despite their…eccentricities” he remarked.

Hiccup sighed. “That’s just it. Being in charge of the dragon riders is one thing, but being chief, is…it...it’s not me” he admitted reluctantly. “All those…speeches, planning, and running the village, that’s my _dad’s_ thing. He enjoys that stuff, and he’s good at it, he’s one of the best chieftains that Berk has ever had. I can’t measure up to Stoick the Vast, in any sense of the word.” He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”

Viggo shrugged. “Because I’m here, and you want to get it off your chest?” he suggested. “As far as not measuring up to Stoick is concerned, I doubt anyone expects you to be the same kind as chief as your father. Your own accomplishments more than surpass his, anyway. Or was it a different Viking who trained a Night Fury and took down a Red Death?"

Toothless chuffed smugly. Hiccup turned red again, but he was smiling a bit. “It’s not just that” he confessed. “I know putting me in charge of the dragon riders was my dad’s oh-so-subtle way of grooming me to be chief, but it kind of backfired.” Hiccup gestured out at the distant horizon. “Now I know there’s so much _more_ out there…but being chief means I’ll be stuck on Berk, too busy to go anywhere unless I have to visit another tribe or something.”

“Not necessarily. I wasn’t tied down to my village. I only returned in winter, occassionally.”

“Yeah, but at least you had an excuse to leave. I mean, it was a _bad_ excuse, but still.”

“The point is, I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. You want humans and dragons to coexist in peace, don’t you? Being chief would help with that goal, rather than hinder it.”

“…How?”

“For one thing, it’s a sign of authority” said Viggo. “Having the title won’t get you respect by itself, but it could be a foot in the door, so to speak. A way to make people who might otherwise dismiss you pay attention. I’m not saying that would work on everyone, mind.”

Already, Hiccup’s mind was racing with possibilities. Trade deals, peace treaties…. _don’t hunt dragons, help us protect them, and we’ll show you how to train them._ “I never thought of it like that” he confessed. “There’s still all the day to day stuff I’d have to deal with, though.”

“Well, that’s what delegating is for. You already do that on the Edge, why not on Berk?”

“…I guess you have a point” Hiccup admitted at last. He still looked reluctant, however.

Viggo continued, “I still think you should consider learning the ropes from Stoick. If nothing else, it will give you a reason to spend more time with him. Speaking from experience…your father isn’t going to be around forever,” he reminded his apprentice, as tactfully as he could. It was a harsh truth, but the sooner Hiccup accepted the inevitable loss, the better.

“I guess you’re right” Hiccup sighed. “I’ll…I’ll talk to dad, after the mission” he decided.

Viggo nodded. The sun had all but set by now, leaving only brilliant red and orange hues painted over the western sky. If he were a more sentimental man he might call it beautiful. “Speaking of which, we should be getting back. You need to rest up for tomorrow.” They got to their feet and mounted up again, riding side by side in silence back towards Berk.

* * *

Stoick was waiting outside the house when he and Viggo returned. “Dad? What, err, what are you still doing up?” Hiccup inquired, even though the sun had only just set. “I mean, you can stay up as late you like, you’re old – not old, just _older_ , than me” he rambled nervously.

“…Are you okay, son?” his father asked in concern. 

“Yeah, sorry, just…lots on my mind. I’m gonna go to bed, y’know, rest up for the mission.” Suddenly Hiccup realised, “ _Oh._ I’m sorry, I forgot about…where are you guys going to sleep?” he asked Viggo and Moonlight. “Dad, can they stay with us? Just for one night.”

“That won’t be necessary” Viggo assured him. “Moonlight and I were just going to bed down in the training ring. Don’t worry about me; I have slept rough before, you know.”

Hiccup looked sheepish. Stoick opened the door to their house and prompted, “You and Toothless go on and get ready for bed. I just need to have a word with Viggo.” When his son hesitated, he added “I’m not going to threaten him, Hiccup. Give me some credit, please.”

“…I knew that. Uh, goodnight” the young man said awkwardly, escaping into the house. Toothless followed. Stoick waited until they’d gone upstairs, and turned back to Viggo.

“Like I said, I’m not going to threaten you” he began in a conversational tone, before his expression turned serious. “I just want to give you a request. More of a warning, really.”

“Which is?”

“Whatever happens on this mission tomorrow…don’t let anything happen to Hiccup.”

Viggo nodded slowly. He’d been expecting a dire warning of retribution if he harmed Hiccup during the mission, but it seemed as if Stoick…trusted him? “I’ll protect him. You have my word, as a fellow chieftain” he said solemnly. “Besides, Hiccup is…too important to lose.”

“Aye, and that’s the other thing I wanted to ask about” the chief went on. “You’ve always been focused on him, even when you were our enemy, and now I want to know why.”

“Does it matter? If you must know, he reminds me of someone. Now, if you’ll excuse me” –

Before he could leave, the chief grabbed his arm. Moonlight snarled. “It matters” Stoick said curtly, ignoring the Skrill. “Maybe you wouldn’t understand, but as a father I have to”-

“No, I _do_ understand, that’s the problem” Viggo snapped, pulling away from Stoick’s grasp. “You want to know that badly? Fine. Hiccup is…too much like how he might have been.”

Stoick blinked. “…Who?”

The former dragon hunter looked _pained._ “Alvis” he replied, swallowing hard. “…my son.”

Eyes widening, Stoick realised what must have happened. “Come on in” he offered, opening the door wider. Viggo hesitated, but then stepped forwards, motioning for his dragon to wait outside. In the house, he sank into a chair at the table. Stoick sat across from him. He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them, staring down at the faded wood.

Finally, he spoke. “There’s something else we have in common. My wife, she…Sigrid was beautiful. Never took any nonsense from me, either. It was arranged but…we just fit.” Viggo sounded as if every word was a struggle to force past his lips. “Then one day, a few months after Alvis was born…a young Nightmare, infected with grimora, attacked. I told her to _run_. It clawed at my neck…” he pressed a hand over the scars there. “She tried to distract it.”

He choked off, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes to ward off tears. In spite of everything, Stoick’s heart ached for the man; he knew exactly how it felt. Viggo sucked in a shuddering breath, and continued, “A - a year later, this…sickness came through the village, during a bad winter. Striking down the oldest of us, like my grandfather…and the youngest. I did everything I could…but Alvis didn’t make it. I…I buried him, alongside his mother.”

“I’m _so_ sorry” Stoick murmured, not knowing what else to say. He remembered his fear whenever Hiccup got sick as a child, that he would lose his son to an enemy he couldn’t fight. Viggo buried his head in his hands, grit his teeth, clearly struggling to hold back sobs.

Soon he’d reined his emotions in once more, and if his good eye was shinier than normal, Stoick would say nothing of it. “A loss like that…tends to change a man. I swore to never let myself feel that despair again. I focused only on the business…and perhaps, I took my anger out on the dragons” Viggo admitted. “Then we come north in search of new stock, and I start getting reports about dragon _riders_ , who are raiding us, freeing the captive dragons.”

“I underestimated them; assumed they’d be easy to deal with. They were teenagers, for goodness sake” Viggo scoffed. “Then I found out they’d stolen a relic of our tribe, and things got personal. Even more so when I realised…who their leader made me think of.”

He met Stoick’s gaze for the first time. “Hiccup was – is – resourceful, clever, brave —everything I always hoped Alvis would be…but he _wasn’t Alvis._ He just reminded me of my long lost son….and I hated him for it.” Viggo shook his head slowly, and said, “Ryker knew. It was part of the reason he decided to mutiny, as a matter of fact. Said I was going soft.”

Stoick didn’t know how to respond to that. He felt bad for pushing the man into this, however; teach him to mind his own business. “You, uh…don’t hate him now, I take it.”

“No. After what he’s done for me…despite everything, I think I’ve grown attached.”

“Does…does Hiccup know, about any of this?”

“I don’t want him to know. If he knew he might get emotional, and lose focus” Viggo pointed out. He stood up from the table. “I – I should be going. Goodnight, chief.”

“Aye, sleep well” Stoick murmured, rising from his own chair. The two men walked over to the door; he held it open for Viggo to step out into the dark, then closed it. Sighed, and dragged a hand over his face. Old, grief tinged memories clouded his gaze. _Oh, Valka. If only you could see our son now_ he thought sadly. _You’d be every bit as proud of him as I am._

* * *

They met up in the Hall for breakfast the next morning. Viggo didn’t look like he’d slept much at all; but then, neither did Hiccup. “Are you alright?” Astrid inquired of her fiancé. He assured her everything was fine. Yet for some reason he couldn’t meet Viggo’s eyes. She wondered what the man had talked to Hiccup about last night, and resolved to ask about it after the mission. For now she would focus on what they needed to do there and then. 

Upon reaching the Edge they fed and watered their dragons, took care of business, and resupplied. Sunset came early this time of year. It was already dark by the time they reached Johann and Krogan’s base, which suited the mission perfectly. Even better, there was a storm brewing. Moonlight would have plenty of firepower to spare for her attack.

Hiccup and Viggo were both riding on the Skrill’s back, wearing their (thoroughly cleaned) disguises with armour underneath. He understood the necessity of it, but dragonskin tunic made Hiccup’s skin crawl. As soon as this was over he was getting rid of the whole outfit.

Fishlegs and the twins moved into position, keeping a low profile until the distraction began in earnest. Moonlight likewise split off from the group. The others flew _almost_ within range to tempt an attack without getting brought down. When the flyers took the bait – and there were fewer of them than usual – Moonlight dived and landed in a secluded clearing. The hunters rushed to fend off the attackers and no one noticed their arrival, just as planned.

Her passengers dismounted. “Well done” murmured Viggo, “now go, help the others.” She chirped softly before taking to the air again. He and Hiccup shared a look of resolve, donned their masked helmets and made their way into the caverns unhindered. So far, so good.

* * *

The twins and Fishlegs, meanwhile, had moved to the other side of the island where captive dragons were being held. That cave entrance was also guarded. Barf&Belch landed surprisingly quietly behind a catapult; Ruffnut and Tuffnut knocked out the four hunters manning it with a mace or hammer in each hand. With their Zippleback’s help, the twins propped the men’s bodies up against the catapult, making it look like they were still awake.

Meatlug picked up a small boulder, and dropped it with a loud splash in the ocean, out of sight of the hunters. A few went over to investigate…and were promptly incapacitated. The commotion got the attention of more hunters, whom Barf&Belch engulfed in a cloud of fog. The twins, who had long since built up a tolerance of the stuff, managed to clonk every hunter on the head – and probably each other a couple of times, accidentally-on-purpose.

That only left the hunters in the cave entrance itself. Two of them were picked up by the Zippleback, and Meatlug charged the other two. “Good work” Fishlegs praised her as he dismounted. Sure enough, the cavern was packed with cages. The first trapped dragon was small, green and wingless. “Oh, great. Why did it have to be a Speed Stinger?” he groaned.

Ruff and Tuff joined him. “Ah, it’s alright, he’s got webbed feet” she pointed out, “I bet he’ll sprint right out.” Before Fishlegs could stop her, Ruff stuck a key into the lock and twisted it. They backed off as the cage door was opened – sure enough, the Speed Stinger made a break for freedom. Thankfully it didn’t jab its paralysing tail into any of them on the way.

“Hey, do you hear that?” Tuffnut asked. “What a weird sounding dragon” he remarked.

The others listened, and heard a “Mmmph! Mmmmmph!” sound from deeper in the cave.

Fishlegs said, “It sounds like there’s a _person_ \- I mean, human – down there. Here, gimme that key” he urged Ruffnut, hand out. “You guys go investigate, I’ll free these dragons.”

The twins headed further into the cavern, past rows of cages. Following the sound of struggling and muffled shouting, they reached a cage right at the back. Instead of a dragon it held a human, manacled to the bars and gagged, but very recognisable. “Gruffnut?!”

* * *

There were still guards on duty in the barracks. On the few times they were challenged, Viggo impersonated Trygge Arnuldson and lied about “escorting this flyer to Johann for insubordination.” He convinced the other guards that he was under direct orders from Johann and no, they couldn’t just throw Hiccup into a cell or have him executed outright.

When they reached the right cavern, there was another man standing guard outside the door. “Halt! Who goes there?” he demanded. Viggo repeated the lie. “I wasn’t told about this. My orders are to ensure that Johann is not disturbed, by _anyone_ ” he said stubbornly.

“Then I’ll finish your shift if you let me follow _my_ orders.”

The guard frowned suspiciously. “Do I know you? Take off your helmet” he demanded.

Viggo sighed, and stepped forwards. Raised his hands to remove the helm. Then suddenly grabbed the hunter by their collar and sucker punched them in the jaw. The man slumped to the ground. “Nice left hook” Hiccup remarked. “Let me try and pick the lock” he added, but instead Viggo just kicked the door in. “Or that works too” he shrugged. They dragged the unconscious hunter into the room out of sight, and barred the door with a spear.

“That won’t hold anyone off for long.”

“We’d better get looking, then.”

* * *

Yesterday hadn’t been the first time Astrid practised flying Toothless in battle. Hiccup had suggested it way beforehand, claiming it might come in useful if he was separated from his dragon. Now she knew what it had really been about, and wasn’t exactly pleased about being kept in the dark. Hopefully making plans and then not discussing them until the last minute wouldn’t become a regular thing with her betrothed. Otherwise she’d have _words._

Lightning cracked through the clouds far above them, yet it never came near. Moonlight was undoubtedly having the time of her life. Thor’s bolts weren’t the threat right now – instead it was the Singetail’s fireballs. The flyers were being lured further away from the island; they in turn were trying to herd and corner the riders. It would be their last mistake.

Spitelout threw two bolas at a couple of flyers hounding Gustav; he in turn chucked one at a flyer attacking Astrid; she and Toothless fended off a third firing at Stormfly. Her dragon had been amazing, following Astrid’s lead despite not being ridden. “Stormfly, twirl!” she yelled, and the Nadder shot upwards, spraying spines in all directions. The three Singetails dodged. Snotlout, Spitelout and Gustav threw bolas’ at the flyers, one of whom fell off.

Toothless flew above them all, and Astrid launched another bolas as high into the air as she possibly could. Then he folded his wings and plummeted at dizzying speed, as Moonlight dropped out of the sky and fired a bolt of lightning at the still tumbling bolas. Arcs of it exploded out in all directions, leaping to the bolas tangled around the flyers, killing them.

“I wouldn’t like to have been one of those guys” Snotlout grimaced as the riders regrouped.

Spitelout remarked, “Makes a change to not be the one getting zapped. Although, is it just me, or did a certain giant red Singetail not make an appearance?” he pointed out, frowning.

Astrid realised he was right about a conspicuous absence – how had she missed that? “If Krogan wasn’t part of the flyers attack, he must still be on the island. We have to get back there right away” she declared. Toothless was worried about Hiccup too, and flew quickly.

* * *

Nothing. Johann’s quarters had been ransacked and there was no sign of the Dragon Eye or lenses. Hiccup was starting to panic. “It’s not here! What if Trygge doubled-crossed us?”

“If he has, I’ll rescind my life debt and throw him into the lava myself” Viggo declared angrily. “Keep searching. It won’t be somewhere obvious, look for a – a hidden lever, or compartment or something” he instructed, rifling through a bunch of weapons. Hiccup looked around the cavern, trying to find something they’d overlooked. All the obvious places had been rooted through, and there was nothing else but dragon skulls on the walls.

Hiccup paused. The skulls made him uneasy and he didn’t like to look at them…but maybe that was what Johann counted on. He pushed down the urge to shudder and looked closely at each one. None of them seemed out of the ordinary, except…the Nightmare skull. One of the horns looked like it had been sawn through and stuck back together. He reached up to grasp it and pulled down. There was a distinct clicking sound, but nothing else happened.

Viggo strode over to him. “I found the hidden lever, but I think it’s stuck” he remarked.

“I wonder…” Viggo pulled down on the other horn. Only then did the false wall of the cave split and swing open to reveal a darkened area beyond. They drew and ignited their swords, before venturing into the hidden cave. The door closed behind them. Hiccup and Viggo looked around themselves. This cavern was much larger, with a crevasse on the far side.

A waterfall thundered in the distance down a tunnel to the left. Near the tunnel there was a winch, attached to chains leading up to a small cage suspended above the crevasse and an upside down drawbridge on the edge. Inside the cage was a chest, that no doubt contained the Dragon Eye and lenses. “This all seems needlessly convoluted” Hiccup remarked. He headed towards the winch, and a stone gave way beneath his foot. Arrows filled the air.

Fortunately they both had quick reflexes, and ducked the second they heard the tell-tale click. “Well, if there weren’t any traps on the _other_ side of the wall…” Viggo said pointedly.

Hiccup winced apologetically, and slowly moved away from the trigger. Before they could approach the winch again, slow mocking claps echoed from within the tunnel. “Oh, well done, both of you” Johann drawled, strolling out of the shadows, a sword on his hip. Hiccup and Viggo raised their own swords. “I must say, that’s an interesting look for you, master Hiccup. Did you finally get rid of those _blithering idiots_ and their Zippleback?” he asked.

Ignoring the disgusting implication, Hiccup demanded “How did you know we’d be here?”

“As soon as your friends started attacking, we suspected the intention was to take the Eye” Johann replied. Krogan stepped out from behind him, double headed axe in hand. “You know, it’s funny” he went on, “this reminds me of the time I was trapped in the caves of” –

“Nobody cares” Viggo interrupted bluntly. Hiccup snickered a bit as Johann’s indignant glare. “I do have to give some credit, though. You’re as annoyingly persistent as Hiccup.”

“Yeah, you – _hey_!”

Johann’s lip curled. “I could say the same. Luckily, it’s hard to be persistent in the grave.”

“Don’t be a fool, Johann. Hiccup is worth a chief’s ransom, _literally_. You need him alive.”

“He’s no chief, and I assure you, I do not. Krogan? Make sure the boy dies this time.”

Krogan smirked maliciously. “With pleasure” he declared, before charging at the young man. Viggo intercepted his first blow to defend Hiccup. One axe slid towards his blind side, as if he couldn’t see that coming. Johann scowled furiously; he drew his sword and attacked the brat himself. Hiccup blocked the first strike, but the second forced him back a step, then another. Johann had him on the defensive, trying to herd him towards the crevasse.

Rather than parry the next strike, he sidestepped to make Johann overbalance and swung up at the man’s stomach. Both blades were forced up towards his neck; Hiccup twisted out of the way, straining against the tension. He glanced over at Viggo just to see if the man was holding his own. Johann took advantage of his distraction to twist the swords, jarring _Inferno_ out of his grasp. Hiccup pivoted and scraped his sword down to Johann’s hands.

His foe jerked away from the sputtering flames, losing his own grip. Both swords were flung aside and clattered to the ground, skidding off the edge of the crevasse. Hiccup had only a second to feel relief before he was shoved to the ground. Johann snatched up a knife and raised it high to stab down. Hiccup yelled and drove his knee hard into the man’s gut.

He struggled to regain his footing, but before he could, Johann stood up first and kicked him hard in the ribs. Hiccup tumbled into the crevasse with a scream. His fingers caught and gripped a rocky ledge with all his strength, arms burning. Viggo shouted his name in horror. “ _Help_!” he yelled back, dangling over what might as well have been a bottomless pit.

“Oh dear, oh dear. You have gotten yourself into quite a pickle, haven’t you?” Johann gloated. It was a shame he couldn’t end the brat himself, but this would have to do. Grimborn and Krogan were still locked in mortal combat, the fools. One of them would kill the other, and he’d have one less rival to deal with. Now to get the prize. He ran over to the winch and pulled the lever. The chains rattled, cage lowering and drawbridge raising up.

Viggo was wrestling Krogan for control of his oversized double-axe, but when he saw Hiccup tumble over the edge, and heard the boy’s scream for help, he fought even harder. Johann was taking the chest – let him, it wasn’t important now. With all his strength he yanked the axe back and sideways, wrenching it out of Krogan’s grasp and embedding the blade in the man’s shoulder, his neck. Leaving his foe to bleed out, Viggo sprinted over to the crevasse.

He threw himself down on his stomach and stretched a hand down to reach Hiccup. It wasn’t enough. “Listen to me! Brace your feet against the cliff and pull yourself up, then grab my hand” Viggo instructed. It was taking all of Hiccup’s strength just to hang on, but his boot and prosthetic scrabbled against the rock. His muscles screamed at him as he hauled himself high enough to grasp Viggo’s wrist. The older man heaved him up and over.

Hiccup panted heavily. “It’s okay, you’re safe” Viggo assured him, helping him to his feet. “Come on, we might still catch up.” They ran through the tunnel, the far end of which was concealed by a waterfall. Both men edged past the curtain of water, getting soaked for their troubles, and emerged onto the far side of the island. There was no sign of Johann, but there was a stake driven into the ground, with a chain hooked onto it. No doubt Krogan’s Singetail had been tied up, and stolen by the traitor. He was long gone by now.

“Aaargh!” Hiccup yelled in frustration at the sky. “It’s not fair! We were _this_ close” he despaired. Then he rounded on Viggo. “You could’ve stopped him!” he snapped accusingly.

Frowning, Viggo asked “Would you rather I had, and left you to die? I really thought you’d be more grateful than this. Or does the rule about not being expendable not apply to you?”

That shook him out of his misplaced anger. “No – yeah – I mean…” Hiccup swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be lashing out, you saved my life.” Impulsively, he hugged the other man. Viggo stiffened and awkwardly patted his back. “Thank you. This - it’s not your fault.”

“It’s not _yours,_ either” his mentor insisted. “We will track Johann down and stop him.”

Just then, a familiar roar sounded from high above them. The others were back. Hiccup moved away and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting up at the sky, “Down here!”

Toothless swooped down to land, closely followed by Moonlight. Astrid dismounted and ran into his arms. “Oh, thank Thor you’re alright” she said in relief. “You are, aren’t you? As soon as we realised Krogan hadn’t been with the other flyers, we came straight back.”

Before he could tell her what happened, Fishlegs and the twins showed up. The Zippleback had a third passenger – a young man who looked exactly like Tuffnut. It was bizarre. “Wait -is that Gruffnut?” Hiccup asked incredulously. “What’s your cousin doing here?” he asked.

“We found him tied up in a cage!” Ruffnut explained. “The good news is, we freed all the dragons. The _bad_ news is, this idiot had a lens the whole time, and they took it off him.”

Fishlegs wrung his hands and said nervously, “Please tell me you got the rest of them.”

Hiccup slumped. “No. We found where they were hidden, but Johann got there first.”

“Johann pushed him off a cliff” Viggo elaborated. “I managed to kill Krogan, but Johann took the Eye and lenses whilst I was saving him. He didn’t escape that long ago, though.”

“Kingstail and I can still track the bastard, then” announced Spitelout. He led his Nadder over to the chain and stake to start picking up the scent. “Chin up, boyo. Could be worse.”

Snotlout agreed “Yeah, you could be dead, you idiot. Who cares if the mission failed?”

“It didn’t fail entirely” Astrid said firmly. “We freed so many dragons and the flyers are gone…Hiccup, this isn’t over” she told her fiancé, knowing he’d be blaming himself. Then she turned to Viggo and asked him, “You’re absolutely sure that Krogan is dead, right?”

“I drove his own axe into his neck. I’d be very doubtful indeed of him surviving that.”

“Good. Thank you, for saving Hiccup” she said gratefully. Toothless purred, nuzzling against his rider. “So, do we catch up with Spitelout or go back to the Edge?” she asked Hiccup. He opened his mouth to reply, only to find himself getting interrupted by two more arrivals.

Sleuther and Windshear joined the small pack of dragons on the island; the former’s rider was grinning ear to ear. “Brother!” he greeted Hiccup cheerfully, vaulting out of the saddle. “You guys’ll never guess what Heather and I found.” Dagur held up another lens. “Bam!”

The riders eyes widened. “The missing lens” Hiccup murmured. “How…where did you...?”

Heather explained, “I was visiting Dagur, and we decided to check on Vanaheim…some flyers tried to tail us there, but we dismounted a few and the others retreated. We knew they had to be following us for a reason, and they were probably looking for another lens, so when we got there, Dagur and I searched through our father’s belongings” she went on.

“And there it was!” added Dagur, beaming. “We went straight to the Edge to find you guys, but you’d already left. So Heather got the other lenses and I got your Dragon Eye, and we came here. Don’t worry about your door, by the way” he said to Hiccup, “I can fix it.”

Hiccup was too relieved to complain. “Never mind that. Give it here” he said eagerly, taking the Dragon Eye II and the last lens from Dagur. Everything else was ready to go, and he could balance the device on top of the stake. The other riders and dragons crowded round.

“I can’t believe it’s finally happening!” Fishlegs exclaimed in delight. “If one of you guys don’t light up that Dragon Eye right now, I will not be held responsible for what I’ll do!”

“Okay, bud, you heard the crazy ranting Viking” said Hiccup. Toothless held a low flame in his jaws, just long enough to activate the Eye. An image appeared on the cliff side in front of them, a silhouette of a familiar dragon with three large head spikes and a flared tail-fin.

It almost seemed anticlimactic. “The King of Dragons…is a Dramillion?” questioned Astrid.

Fishlegs realised, “No no no, it’s a _Titan-Wing_ Dramillion. See, there are smaller ones next to it for comparison” he pointed. “I bet it’s so majestic. Next stop, Dramillion Island, right?”

“Not just this minute, I’m bushed” Snotlout complained. The others glared. “Okay, fine!”

Hiccup was determined once more. “Saddle up, guys. We’re stopping this once and for all.”


	9. Heart To Heart

As they flew away from the island, the twins dumped their cousin on Gustav – literally – and told him to “drop Gruffnut off at the Northern Markets, will ya?”

“Or on a deserted island, we’re not fussy.”

Gruffnut immediately begged to be taken somewhere with people, or at the very least a dinghy he could sail. Hiccup sternly cut off Gustav’s reluctant protests and ordered him to put Gruffnut somewhere he couldn’t get into trouble. “That includes getting in trouble with or because of you, to be clear.”

So the teen and his reluctant passenger left. The other riders continued to head towards Dramillion Island. “We need to hurry” urged Viggo. “There was a distinct lack of hunters down in those tunnels - I have more than a passing suspicion about where all of them have gone, _and_ they have a head start.”

That was enough to spur the dragons onwards, even though they were flying straight from one battle into another. If they could catch up with the fleet, or better yet overtake it, they could stop Johann getting his hands on the King of Dragons or at the very least prevent him from escaping. Then they could deal with whoever had betrayed them – for someone must have – and win the war.

They caught up with Spitelout and filled him in. Naturally the headstrong warrior was delighted at the prospect of another fight, especially if it would be a last stand. Hiccup just hoped he didn’t do something stupid chasing after glory.

Dramillion Island came in sight at last…so did the fleet, already moored. Hunters were already onshore, heading to capture the Titan-Wing and any others. A massive cage sat on the deck of the flagship, clearly designed to hold a large dragon. The wooden boards around and beneath it made for a tempting target.

At least, it _would_ be. If the cage didn’t already _have_ a Titan-Wing trapped inside – Krogan’s Singetail. The large dragon was thoroughly chained down, muzzled and had a few crossbows being aimed at him for good measure. Hiccup’s hands clenched into fists. “That _wretched_ son of a -! He’s using the dragon as a living shield!” They couldn’t just sink the flagship from the air and be done with it.

The dragons hovered, trying to catch their breaths. Fishlegs looked furious as well. “We _have_ to rescue that Singetail, Hiccup. He doesn’t deserve this!”

“I know, and we will” Hiccup assured him, thinking quickly. “You and Astrid free the big guy. Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff, you three give ‘em some cover fire” he ordered. “The rest of you, with me. We’re gonna help the Dramillions. And guys? If any of you get a clear shot at Johann…then take it” Hiccup said grimly. “He has to go.”

His friends were shocked; it wasn’t like him to order a kill shot. On the other hand, he was right. So they split up, five heading to the island, five to the ships.

* * *

Astrid squinted her eyes against the wind as Stormfly dived; it felt good to be riding her own dragon again. She and Fishlegs were taking out the ballistas on the lead ship; Snotlout and the twins would deal with the escorts. Then they’d break open the cage, free the Singetail, and sink the ship. It was a good plan.

Okay, maybe not _good,_ but passable. They’d done this a thousand times before. She couldn’t spot Johann on the deck. More the pity; Astrid would have happily let him go down with it. Stormfly spun to dodge a net and fired at the launcher, which exploded in a white-hot burst of sparks and screeching metal. The hunters scattered. “Attagirl” she grinned, holding on tight as they pivoted.

Spikes flew, and the archers near the cage either went down or fled. As soon as Stormfly’s claws hit the deck, Astrid dismounted. Fishlegs was close behind her. The large red Singetail looked frantic, eyes rolling in every direction. “I’ll watch your back” she told Fishlegs, who gulped and began edging towards the cage.

“It’s okay” he said shakily, “we’re not gonna hurt you. We’re here to help.”

The Singetail growled. Meatlug growled right back. “Our humans are good!” she insisted. “They’ve freed others like you and now they will release you as well.”

Fishlegs was so grateful for his big-hearted Gronckle. Her words seemed to get through to the belligerent dragon, who lowered their head a bit. He struggled with the cage door, but it was locked. “Meatlug, Stormfly, little help?” he called. They melted the lock, and Fishlegs pulled the door open. He cautiously reached out towards the Singetail, turned his face away…and felt scales against his palm.

Sagging with relief, Fishlegs took off the muzzle, and leapt back as the Singetail charged out. They fired at the hunters trying to sneak up on him from behind. A different archer, however, was aiming at him from another ship. The first he knew about it was when the man screamed, having been snatched up by Barf&Belch and dropped in the ocean. “Now we’re even!” Ruffnut shouted.

Astrid yelled “Keep them off our backs! Fishlegs, c’mon” she beckoned. They began removing all the chains from the Singetail, who tolerated it. The work was almost done when from the island, there came a loud bellow. “Sounds like they’ve found the Titan-Wing Dramillion” she remarked. “Or it’s found them.”

* * *

Hiccup led the others over the island. “Just follow the sound of fire blasts and screaming” he replied, when Dagur asked how they were gonna find what they were looking for. Hunters were visible through the trees, chasing Dramillions. They seemed unwilling to just fly away, instead congregating around the middle of the forest. “It’s like they’re trying to protect something – or someone.”

Whilst the other three went after pockets of hunters combing the forest or hauling away captives, Hiccup and Viggo went straight for the commotion. They spotted Johann from the air, marching surrounded by a phalanx of archers. Trying to take him out in one strike would mean risking a hailstorm of arrows.

Toothless and Moonlight could combine their firepower, and their riders were well aware of how powerful it would be. Enough to kill not just Johann, but everyone around him. The traitor needed to die – Hiccup wasn’t willing to have that much collateral damage. “Let’s see if we can make them break ranks!”

Their dragons circled around and dived, staying out of each other’s way. A blast struck the ground near Johann’s escort, forcing them all to dive for cover. Johann scowled up at the Night Fury and its meddling rider. “Take down those dragons!” he ordered. The hunters aimed and loosed in unison, a deadly spray. Hiccup and Toothless dodged. Viggo and Moonlight fired back in retribution.

Distracted, he and his dragon didn’t notice Johann aiming a crossbow at the Skrill’s flank. She shrieked when it pierced her scales, and fell out of the air. “No!” her rider shouted, tumbling out of the saddle as they crashed. Viggo scrambled back to his dragon’s side immediately, reaching for the arrow.

She snarled a warning of “Enemies!” Viggo looked up to find hunters running at them with swords. A plasma blast sent the men flying backwards, and Toothless landed on his other side, growling furiously. He returned to pulling out the offending projectile, muttering apologies to her for the pain under his breath.

Johann sneered, “How nice to have an opportunity to kill you myself, Hiccup!”

“You mean like you’ve been trying and failing to do for the last four years?” he snarked right back. “Johann, let this madness end. You don’t have to do all this!”

“Yes, I do” Johann glared. “Now, don’t bother telling your pet Night Fury to blast me where I stand. He so much as coughs a flame and they _all_ shoot to kill.” The other hunters, who had surrounded them, levelled crossbows at Toothless and Moonlight, who both snarled defensively. Hiccup wished he had his shield there.

Of course, the traitorous merchant seemed not to realise, or had forgotten, that they weren’t alone. Dagur and Sleuther attacked the hunters, distracting them into firing at _him_ instead. “No, you fools! It’s a trick!” yelled Johann, glaring at his men. Which meant he wasn’t looking at the cornered riders and dragons.

Toothless noticed, but could he fire a blast in time? Behind them, the trees were knocked aside like matchsticks as a massive Dramillion faded into view. It stared down at the hunters, the riders and their dragons, and its roar shook the air. “Take it down!” Johann ordered. He aimed his own crossbow at the titan-wing, and pulled the trigger; but the single dragon-root arrow had no effect at all.

Perhaps en masse the hunters could have overcome it, but harried as they were, most had simply given up and fled. “Come back, you cowards!” Johann screamed furiously after them. Hiccup signalled for Toothless to fire, but before he could charge the blast fully, a bigger one struck Johann in a bright flash.

The titan-wing had attacked, in retribution. If this _was_ the King of Dragons he was ruthless indeed. Hiccup tore his eyes from the smoking corpse and shouted up at Dagur, “Go get Fishlegs! Moonlight was hit, we need the antidote!” The Triple Stryke darted away, and he turned to Viggo, kneeling at his Skrill’s head.

“It’s okay, my dear” he murmured, stroking her snout. “You’ll be fine, trust me.”

The titan-wing Dramillion stared down at them. Toothless growled defensively. “Err, I don’t think we should be making him angry” warned Hiccup, still a bit shaken by how quickly he’d dispatched Johann. Although, it was probably no less than the traitor deserved…Titan just spread his wings and leapt into the air.

He hovered above the island, facing off against the Singetail. Hiccup vaulted into the saddle and Toothless tensed, ready to fly and break up what could be a vicious fight. Yet instead, the two titan-wings seemed to come to an accord. They bowed their heads to each other, and breathed a fiery salute, identical pillars of flame crossing in midair. Then Singe retreated, back to his own kind.

The other riders arrived in the clearing. “Sorry I’m late!” Fishlegs apologised, hurrying over with a flask of dragon-root antidote. “They’d hit Kingstail as well” he explained, handing the flask to Viggo, who tipped it into Moonlight’s mouth.

Astrid reported, “The flagship‘s still here, but the rest of them are sailing away.”

“Let them. It’s over.” Hiccup let out a breathless, disbelieving laugh. “We won.”

Dagur remarked “Well, that was anticlimactic. Group hug!” He wrapped his arms around Hiccup and Astrid, lifting them off their feet. Ribs cracked, and he put them down. Their friends grinned and ran over, piling into the embrace. The two oldest men stood aside, watching either with fondness or mild disdain.

“Oi!” said Snotlout, looking over at Viggo. “Aren’t you listening? He said ‘ _group_ hug’, and you’re part of the group, so get your butt over here” he declared. The others either stared at him in disbelief, or smiled encouragingly at Viggo, who was surprised and touched by the words of affirmation. From _Snotlout_ of all people. So he walked over and hesitantly put his arms around their shoulders.

* * *

As soon as the group hug ended, Hiccup stripped off that awful tunic – never again – and the armour, until he was wearing only a thin undershirt. Not that his fiancé was complaining. Dagur heaved Johann’s body aside; they’d dig an unmarked grave. The man didn’t deserve to be sent to the Hall of Valhalla.

Just then, Titan and a lot of other Dramillions returned. Their jaws were full of fish, which they offered to the riders dragons. Titan himself offered his share to Toothless, as one flock leader to another. The dragons purred gratefully and began to eat, whilst Dagur and Snotlout collected branches for a cooking fire.

“Does anyone else find it strange that the King of Dragons is a species we’ve already met?” Astrid wondered aloud. “I thought it’d be something different.”

“I don’t think this Dramillion _is_ the King, actually” said Viggo. “Our dragons aren’t treating him with any kind of reverence. Besides, the stories I’ve heard say the King is _larger_ than a titan-wing. Some kind of…oh, what’s the word…”

“Behemoth?” supplied Fishlegs. “Leviathan?”

“That’s the one. A Bewilderbeast perhaps, or a Foreverwing” Viggo mused.

Hookfang rumbled, “Make no-sense. Dragons have many flocks, not one alpha.”

“You mean there _isn’t_ one king to rule them all?” asked Ruffnut.

“There goes our next bestseller idea” Tuffnut complained.

Toothless and Titan were chirping to each other in untranslated dragonese. “Hiccup get Eye?” asked Toothless. His rider came over and took the Dragon Eye II from the saddlebag. Titan opened his jaws, a unique fire held within them; yellow and purple-blue flames swirling and boiling. Hiccup held the Eye as steady as he could, angled downwards so the light spread on the ground.

The others backed away to make room, as a peculiar image appeared. Three geometric shapes, one on top of the other. The uppermost shape was new, like a fan of spikes, but Hiccup thought the other two looked vaguely familiar…

“That’s it?” Snotlout asked incredulously. “That can’t be it! It’s just shapes!”

“Our great-uncle Rorschach used to make paintings like this” remarked Tuffnut, “except his were a lot more blotchy, cos he just poured paint on the canvas and folded it in half. Then he’d ask us what we thought the blotch looked like. Personally I always thought it looked like splattered guts, or a squashed brain.”

“Especially when he used red paint, which was often” Ruffnut continued.

Ignoring the twins ramblings, Dagur turned to Viggo and said “No offence, but if this whole thing was an elaborate ruse by your tribe, I am _not_ gonna be happy.”

“It’s not a ruse. It _can’t_ be” Viggo insisted, frowning at the images. “These shapes must have some other meaning, perhaps a clue to the whereabouts of”-

“That’s it!” Hiccup exclaimed, realising why the shapes looked familiar. “Guys, don’t you see? They’re not just random shapes - it’s a _map_ ” he said eagerly, pointing. “It’s just stylised. Look, that one with the three triangles and an arch, that’s what Dragon’s Edge would look like from a ship. And the one above it is”-

“Dark Deep” gasped Fishlegs. “Of course, how could I miss that? Err, sorry.”

Hiccup put the Eye down – the image was fading anyway – and pulled his own map out. He unfolded it on the ground, as his friends gathered closer, the dragons peering over their shoulders. “If you picture a straight line running from the Edge…to Dark Deep…then assuming the third shape is the nest of the King of Dragons, it must be somewhere around here, to the north-east” he deduced.

There was, as far as any of them knew, mostly ocean out that way. The riders had never tried to venture further north, not knowing if there’d be somewhere to land that wasn’t an iceberg. Snotlout intoned, “Okay, let me get this straight. Viggo’s ancestors found the nest the King of Dragons, whatever it is, and instead of just leaving a note on it, they set up an elaborate, dangerous fetch quest?”

“Pretty much” Hiccup replied. “I was thinking …as much as the Eyes are great tools for studying dragons, in the wrong hands they’re dangerous. We need to destroy them, and the lenses, for good” he declared. The others nodded solemnly, even Viggo; he’d expected this would have to happen for a while now.

* * *

Before they sank it for good, the riders ransacked Johann’s flagship. They took as much as they could carry; maps, coins, dried food, and of course the chest with the original Dragon Eye and lenses. Spitelout and Kingstail headed for Berk, to break the news of their victory directly to Stoick. Hiccup and his friends took a more indirect route. Their first destination would be Wingmaiden Island.

“Welcome back, Heather” greeted Atali. “I see you found the other riders” she noted, eyes flicking over them all and pausing on… “You must be Viggo.”

“Yes, I am” he replied, guarded…before cautiously adding “Nice to meet you.”

Snotlout impatiently rambled “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Atali, meet Viggo, Viggo meet Atali, now let’s tell them the big surprise already! You know, what I’ll do it. Guess who just won the war against Johann and the dragon hunters? We did!”

Atali blinked in surprise, and her fellow warriors muttered to one another. She looked at Hiccup expectantly. “Johann and Krogan are dead” he confirmed. “The Singetails are free, so are the other captive dragons, _and_ we have both Dragon Eyes. We plan to destroy them, and the lenses, so this never happens again.”

There was a pause as his words sunk in…then a delighted smile blossomed on Atali’s face, and on those of her people. “You must tell us everything about what happened” she urged them. “And what of the fabled King of Dragons?”

Hiccup explained “The final clue was a map to its nest, out beyond the northeast borders of the archipelago. One day we’ll search for it, but the important thing is that the hunters can’t. Whoever Krogan was working for will be kept waiting.” That mysterious buyer was still out there, but if he showed up, they’d be ready.

They all gathered in the Wingmaiden’s hall to drink and talk. Snotlout found himself sitting next to Minden, or perhaps she’d come to sit beside him. Either way he wasn’t complaining. Atali proposed a toast, “to your victory against the hunters, and the peace that follows”. Everyone cheered and raised their goblets; her hand brushed against his in a way that maybe wasn’t an accident.

He glanced at her, and she gestured with a tilt of her head for him to follow. Once they were out of earshot, Minden smiled. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Same here” he grinned. “Especially now that the war’s over. ‘Bout time, yeah?”

“Oh, definitely. Good riddance” she agreed. “So…I actually have some good news for you as well. You know how normally, we let the Razorwhip fledglings go back to the wild once they can take care of themselves?” Minden asked. He nodded. “I talked to Atali, about us, and she said that if I want to, Silverwing can stay with me until she’s big enough to ride. Then I could visit you more often.”

 _Is she saying what I think she’s saying?_ “W-what about your oath?” he asked.

“I’m still bound by it, for now” explained Minden, “but once the time comes to set our Razorwhips free…I could be released from it. Maybe…do you think Hiccup would mind having me as a rider, one day?” she inquired, a bit shyly.

Snotlout couldn’t believe his ears. “Are you kidding me? He’d be all over that. So – so just let me get this straight. You’re saying that we… _could_ be a we?” he checked, gesturing between then. “As in, a couple? As in ‘more than friends’?”

She blinked. “Um, yes? Not just yet” Minden cautioned. “We ought to take things slow, get to know each other more. It’s not something we can rush into.”

“Oh yeah, of course not” he replied with false casualness. On the inside Snotlout was jumping up and down, shouting **_finally!_** _An actual shot!_ “I can come visit, and if you want Hookfang and I can give you ride to Berk, give you a tour…”

Minden smiled. “I’d like that” she said, and before he knew it, she was kissing him. Snotlout stiffened. Then he figured he probably ought to kiss her back.

* * *

There were hugs and handshakes all round as Dagur and Heather split off from the main group, when they left the island. The former to rejoin his fiancé and tell of their glorious victory – “you guys totally owe us for finding that fifth lens for you!” – and the latter to bring the same glad tidings to the Berserker tribe.

Everyone was in high spirits when they returned to the Edge. Their good mood couldn’t even be dampened by the lone dragon hunter ship ploughing through the waves. Just something to clean up. When they got closer however, Viggo recognised the men on board, and at least one of them recognised him too.

“Hold your fire!” Trygge yelled at his crew. He stared up at the dragons hovering overhead, and particularly at the Skrill and her eye-patched rider. “Viggo? Sir?”

Viggo called down to him, “I think you ought to know that Krogan is dead!”

“…He is?”

“And so is Johann! Oh, and also, I lied. I really have joined the dragon riders.” It wasn’t like it needed to be a secret anymore. Trygge’s jaw dropped hilariously.

Hiccup suddenly saw an opportunity. “Hey! Can we land?” he asked Trygge. The hunter frowned suspiciously, but he and the others backed away. At his rider’s urging, Toothless landed on the deck, closely followed by Moonlight and Stormfly. Hiccup dismounted and stepped forwards, hands raised in surrender.

“So, uh, hi. It’s Trygge Arnuldson, right?” he asked. “Viggo told me about you.”

Trygge frowned, suspicious. “What do you want, dragon rider?” he demanded.

“Just to talk. I have a proposition” Hiccup replied, hoping he could spin this in just the right way. “You don’t have to hunt dragons. There _is_ a better way.”

The hunters started muttering amongst themselves. “Why should we listen to the likes of you? What, we do as you tell us or your dragons blow up our ship?”

“That can be arranged” remarked Astrid, daring them to try anything. “Hiccup, what are you doing? We don’t need to negotiate with these guys, we’ve won.”

Without taking his eyes off Trygge, Hiccup calmly replied “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean this is over. The rest of the hunters are probably arguing over who gets to be the next ‘supreme leader’ as we speak. If we want this to stop, we need to do something different. All of us. So no, we’re not going to sink your ship.” 

“…Then what are you gonna do? There’s gotta be some kind of catch here.”

“No catch. I just want you to stop hunting dragons, and persuade those other guys to stop as well. As long as there are trappers in the archipelago, we’ll be fighting you. No one wants to be in a pointless war. Believe me, we’ve tried.”

“He’s right, you know” remarked Viggo, catching on. “You said you wanted me to be your leader, but I’m afraid that ship has sailed. _You_ could lead, Trygge. Not just this crew, but the entire fleet” he said slyly. Trygge began to look intrigued.

He asked “Why would we stop hunting dragons, though? It’s just a job, but it pays a lot, and ships aren’t cheap. Especially when you’ve gotta rebuild them.”

“That’s just my point” Hiccup insisted, “If you weren’t hunting dragons, your ships would last a lot longer. You can make money selling something else, something that won’t hurt dragons. Like trees. Trees are useful, and they don’t have sharp teeth or breathe fire. Unless they’re hiding a Changewing, that is.”

One of the other men blurted out, “Who the heck is gonna buy _trees?_ ”

Viggo smoothly answered “Oh, people always need good timber, Lars; you of all people should know that, and stop hiding behind Nygren, for goodness sake.”

The larger, birds-nest-bearded man stepped aside. Lars scowled, embarrassed. “Don’t tell me what to do! Bad enough you got your own brother killed, now”-

“Ryker got himself killed” Viggo interrupted. “Would you pay attention? You remember home, I assume. What do the Faroe Islands have a distinct lack of?”

“Err…”

“ _Trees,_ Lars. Forests. One of the reasons our ancestors began hunting dragons in the first place was so they could trade the hides in for timber to build with.”

Hiccup jumped on the chance again. “There are islands round here with _loads_ of trees, and no dragons” he told Trygge, “Or at least not many. You could do logging without disturbing them. Sleipnir Island, that one with all the oleander – not Botany Blight, the bigger one – heck, there’s trees on your own island base.”

More muttering ensued, from “who does this brat think he is?”, to “logging _would_ be a lot easier.” What mattered was that they were listening, and Hiccup was grinning on the inside. If he could just persuade them to do something else, he could save hundreds of dragons and get rid of the army all in one fell swoop.

“It’s not that simple” Trygge complained. “What about our quota? The folks we’re selling to are expecting a shipment of dragons soon as the spring comes.”

Viggo pointed out, “That buyer Krogan was working for is on the mainland somewhere. You’d be going south-west, far away from there. As for the quota, if you lead the whole armada away, no one will be able to go there with empty holds, will they? Or tell anyone what happened. You’ll have just…vanished.”

Trygge rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but he still seemed reluctant. “You could chop down trees – that won’t fight back – without spending anything, and sell the wood to people who’d pay a lot for it” Hiccup pointed out. “Low cost, high profit…seems like a win-win to me” he shrugged. “What do you think, Viggo?”

“As a businessman, I can say for certain this would be profitable” he confirmed.

Finally, Trygge admitted “I s’pose you have a point. Logging it is, then” he decided, holding a hand out to shake. With a sigh of relief, Hiccup shook on it.

“Good to hear; and remember, no dragon hunting. There’s a lot more to them than you think, and they don’t deserve that” he insisted. Then he mounted up, and the dragons left the deck, rejoining the three circling overhead. Below them, Trygge called for the other men to quit staring and get back to sailing, they had a fleet to gather and timber to sell. Never mind if it was cowardly!

“Now _that_ ”, said Viggo, “was a move worthy of a master strategist. Getting your opponents to take themselves and their _own pieces_ off the board is inspired.”

Astrid praised, “That was amazing. How did you know that was gonna work?”

“I didn’t” Hiccup admitted. “I just wanted to point them somewhere else, and trees are useful, plentiful, and as far from being like dragons as you can get.” To his mentor he added, “Thanks for backing me up. So, who was that Lars guy?”

Viggo sighed. “As a matter of fact, he’s my cousin” he admitted, “We never did get on well, but he’s far too much of a coward to complain about this. I suspect he’s secretly glad about it and just won’t admit to that.” The other riders gave him pointed stares and Viggo rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know, it runs in the family.”

* * *

When they got home, Hiccup told the Defenders there about Johann’s defeat, and that a ship would likely be coming soon to take them home. He thanked them for all their help, and they too thanked the riders for stopping the hunters. Everyone drifted apart, retreating to their own huts for a rest. Viggo took off Moonlight’s saddle and checked on her injury, though she insisted she was fine.

“Can you blame me for worrying? I know how unpleasant having an arrow stuck in you is” he pointed out. Of course, if he’d realised in time he would have taken it himself. Hiccup really had made him a changed man. Speaking of which, here the man came now; those footsteps were unmistakable. Viggo turned to him.

Hiccup paused on the threshold. “Hey. Can I come in?” he asked. Viggo nodded. Stepping inside, Toothless close behind him – naturally – Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “So, um…I have a confession to make” he admitted.

“Oh?”

“I kinda…overheard you talking to my dad the other night” he confessed. It explained so much; the pet names, the reluctance to simply kill him outright…Viggo stiffened. Hiccup swallowed hard. “I know I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping. I’m sorry. For that, and…for what happened to Sigrid, and Alvis.’

A long slow breath, in and out. “It’s…not your fault. I don’t need pity, either. The fact is….I’m the one who should be apologising, Hiccup. I blamed you for something beyond your control, for my own emotions, and that wasn’t fair. Of course, I didn’t really do ‘fair’ back then…but that was no excuse, I realise.”

“It…it’s okay” Hiccup offered tentatively. “I mean, it’s not _okay_ , but…I get it. You were hurting. I…” he hesitated. “I know it’s none of my business, but I wish I could’ve met them. I think if they were still alive…they’d be proud of you.”

Viggo looked stricken. “I…I’d like to think so. I wish I could’ve known him, too…” He sucked in another deep breath, reigning in his grief. “Hiccup, I - I hope you know, I don’t plan on trying to replace… _Stoick_ is your father, and you’re not…” 

“Not Alvis. I know” Hiccup nodded solemnly. He wouldn’t try to be someone long dead, but some impulse of kindness made him continue. “Still, if you want to, err…I mean, my last ex-nemesis calls me his brother. I’ve kinda gotten used to this sort of…what I mean is, if you do think of me like that, I don’t mind.”

This got a look of surprise, and the sort of naked uncertainty that he rarely saw Viggo express. Knowing what he did now, it made sense that only Hiccup could elicit such a reaction. “You don’t have to” he said hastily. “I just thought – I’m not trying to replace Alvis, or anything, but if it makes you feel better then…”

He was cut off by a raised hand. “Hiccup…I know you mean well” Viggo acknowledged, voice raspier than usual. “You have a good heart. But I…I think I need to be alone right now” he admitted. Hiccup winced, feeling guilty. _Of course it’s too soon, what was I thinking?_ With a quiet, apologetic goodbye, he walked away from the hut, leaving the older man to his thoughts and his grief.


	10. The Future

Unlike last time, when the riders arrived at Berk everyone was out in force and cheering. Stoick stood on the steps to the Great Hall; his proud smile was visible from the air, even through his beard. Toothless landed. Hiccup slid out of the saddle, walked up to his father and held out Johann’s daggers. All three of them, as spoils of war. “I’d give you the big one, but it fell off a cliff” he quipped.

Stoick laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder. To his credit, Hiccup didn’t stumble. “Welcome home, and well done, all of you. We shall have a feast in your honour, to celebrate this victory! Berk _stands_!” A huge cheer went up.

The cooking was already underway, of course. Everyone piled into the Hall, loaded their plates up, filled their tankards and made merry. Hiccup filled his dad in on what had occurred. When Stoick learned that Viggo had saved his son’s life, and rejected a chance to take the Eye for himself, he gained a new appreciation for the man. It was good to know that he had kept his promise.

Stoick wasn’t the only one who seemed to see the former hunter in a new light. Viggo was sitting with Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins, telling them some anecdote or joke. “So he looks round at this huge guy – I mean, a guy Stoick’s size –glaring at him and asks – ‘wait, that was _your_ wife?’” he grinned. They all burst out laughing at the punchline, whatever the joke might have been.

“Hey, dad?” Hiccup prompted. “Can, uh…can Viggo stay with us tonight?”

“Of course, son” Stoick replied amicably. It was the least they could do, all things considered. _Never thought I’d have Viggo Grimborn as a house guest._

It would be a while before they’d retire, though; Viking feasts could go on for hours. At last, when all the food was eaten and most villagers were more drunk than the ale, the people of Berk began to drift back to their homes. Stoick approached the table where Viggo still sat, mulling over his tankard. “I wasn’t a good host, last time” the chief admitted. “Leaving you to sleep in the arena.”

Viggo looked confused. “You can stay with us” Stoick went on, “we’ll make room. For you, and for her” he added, gesturing to Moonlight curled up nearby.

The confusion turned to surprise. “There’s, ah, no need to trouble yourselves” –

“Nonsense” Stoick scoffed, “we’ve got a spare bedroll lying around somewhere, and so long as your dragon doesn’t set fire to the floor it should be just fine.”

Moonlight squawked indignantly at the very idea. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem at all” her rider commented. “Well, if you insist…thank you, chief.”

* * *

The next morning, Hiccup and Toothless were woken by hundreds of Terrible Terrors jumping on the roof. No wait, that was just the rain. A brief glimpse outside confirmed the downpour. “Sorry, bud. No flying for us this morning.”

Toothless stretched and yawned dismissively. Hiccup indulged himself sleeping in for a while, until his stomach decided now was the time to get up. He got dressed and opened his bedroom door; Stoick and Viggo were already sitting opposite each other at the table. They stopped their conversation when Hiccup appeared, and he paused at the top of the steps. “Err – good morning?”

“Morning, son!” Stoick greeted brightly. “Weather’s terrible out there.”

Hiccup came downstairs saying “Yeah, we noticed. That’s Berk for you.” He slid into a seat and helped himself to breakfast. The three of them ate in silence for a bit, until Hiccup finally worked up the courage to say “I, uh, I was thinking…”

“That’s a dangerous pastime” his dad joked. “Sorry. What’s on your mind?”

“I…” He took a deep breath to steel himself. “You remember when we first heard Dagur had escaped, and that was what kinda started all this?” he asked.

“Aye…?”

“We were talking about what would’ve happened if he didn’t escape, or if we never heard about it, and I was talking to you…” Hiccup fiddled with his fork. “I was gonna say, before the interruption…maybe it was time I…” he trailed off.

“Time you what?” Stoick prompted, a bit impatiently. “C’mon, out with it.”

Hiccup swallowed hard. “Time I…I-I don’t want to be chief” he blurted out. Then his eyes widened and he cringed. Stoick’s brow furrowed; Viggo was surprised.

“I thought you were changing your mind about that” he commented mildly.

“Changing his mind?” asked Stoick. “You’ve talked about this before, then.”

Glancing at Hiccup as if for permission, Viggo explained “I advised Hiccup to at least start preparing to become chief, if for no other reason than it means spending more time with you. After all, none of us are getting any younger.”

“Oh. So _that’s_ why you brought up my age the other night” Stoick realised. Hiccup looked sheepish. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” he questioned.

“What was I gonna say? ‘Oh, hey dad, you know that important duty to our tribe you’ve been expecting me to take on since I was born? Yeah, I don’t feel like it.’ It’s not like we’re good at talking about this kind of thing anyway” said Hiccup.

Stoick gave a long-suffering sigh. “We’re talking about it now. First things first – why don’t you want to be chief? It’s a huge honour, son. It’s your birthright.”

“Only because I’m the chiefs’ son, and that was the gods’ decision” Hiccup pointed out. “I don’t want to be chief because I’d be _miserable_. I know I would. I’d be stressed out, there’s a hundred things to do and watch people doing, and that’s just the Viking stuff. There’s the dragons as well, and speaking of dragons, I’d barely have any spare time for Toothless, or Astrid, or anyone I care about.

“And it’s not that I don’t care about Berk, but there’s more to life than disputes over someone’s sheep having lambs with someone else’s sheep, like that even matters. I’d go out of my _mind._ It’d be like dealing with Snotlout and the twins on their bad days except it’s the whole damn village - don’t tell ‘em I said that.”

* * *

His father and mentor glanced at one another. “Are you done?” Stoick asked.

“I…yeah, I am. In more ways than one.”

Viggo smirked. “I have to say, I’m impressed. I think you only stopped to breathe twice” he teased. Hiccup didn’t look amused at all, which only made it funnier.

“Aye, you’re right. Being chief is a lot of work” agreed Stoick, “but it’s worth it. You’d be helping your people. Remember, the needs of the many outweigh” –

“The needs of the few, I know” Hiccup cut him off. “What, so how I feel doesn’t matter? You just want me to be stressed out for the rest of my life. That’s great, dad. Perfect. Thank you for summing that up” he snarked, just a touch bitterly.

Stoick looked exasperated. “It won’t be as bad as you think. Look, we can ease you into the role gradually. You can always delegate tasks if there’s too much.”

Hiccup stared at him, appalled. “Oh for the love of – this is exactly why I never bothered bringing it up! Because I knew you’d ignore everything I said, dad, you always do. At least Viggo listened to me when I talked about it” he retorted, gesturing at the other man, whom up till now had wisely kept his mouth shut.

Before Stoick could protest and likely make things worse, he cleared his throat. “With all due respect, chief…he does have a point. _I_ think Hiccup has the potential to be a great chief, and I’d hate to see that potential get squandered. But if his heart isn’t it, his performance would be, hm, lacking, shall we say.”

“Exactly” declared Hiccup. “You see? Even he can tell this is a terrible idea.” 

Viggo calmly added, “You shouldn’t be so hard on him, either, you know. I’m sure your father only wants what’s best for you. And for the tribe, of course.”

Father and son glanced at each other uncomfortably, and looked away again. Hiccup scuffed his peg on the stone. “I get that” he sighed, “but he just – dad, I _told you_ why I don’t want to be chief, and it’s like you didn’t hear a word! This isn’t something I can just ‘get used to’. I don’t see why I _have_ to ‘get used to it’.”

Stoick rubbed his forehead and sighed heavily. “Okay…Let’s say you weren’t chief. What would you do instead?” he questioned. “Who would replace you?”

“I’d rather be in charge of the dragons” Hiccup explained. “Not just our dragons, but stopping hunters, convincing other tribes that they’re not dangerous – that kind of thing. I figured Astrid could deal with the Viking stuff. She’s good at it.”

With a thoughtful nod, Stoick acknowledged “Aye, she would be a fine Chief. So would you, of course…d’you really think the dragons need that much attention? Most of ‘em seem to take care of themselves just fine” Stoick pointed out, “and anyway, isn’t Toothless supposed to be their chief, or something?” he inquired.

“Toothless is Queen” the Night Fury replied, from his place curled on the stone.

Hiccup resisted the urge to roll his eyes - hadn’t he just been complaining about his dad not listening to him? “It’s not the dragons I’m worried about, it’s the humans attacking them. I still need to make sure the last of Krogan’s army leave the archipelago, preferably for good this time. But other hunters will come here, and they’ll probably target Berk. To them, we’ll look like a threat” he explained.

“Look, I know it sounds like I’m being selfish, but it’s not like that” Hiccup insisted, looking his father in the eye. “Berk can handle getting attacked, we’re Vikings, it’s an occupational hazard. Our dragons defend us, and we protect them, but what about the wild ones? I can’t just stand back and say, ‘oh, they’re not _our_ dragons, so we can’t protect them from being hunted and enslaved!’.”

He panted. Toothless crooned, and Hiccup stroked the dragon to calm himself down. Stoick admitted “Aye, son, you’re right. They don’t deserve that, whether they live with us or not. Just to be clear, I’m not having you adopt every single dragon in the archipelago and bringing them all to Berk” he warned. Somehow he suspected Hiccup _would_ do that _,_ if he thought he could get away with it. 

* * *

“There’s still the matter we discussed before” Viggo reminded Hiccup, “on the sea stacks. You’re seeing the chieftainship as an obstacle to your goals instead of an opportunity. Who are other chiefs more likely to listen to? One of their own, or someone who rejected his birthright in favour of playing with dragons?” 

At Hiccup’s indignant look, he added “ _We_ know that’s not what you’re doing, but that’s how they would see it. Stoick will tell you the same thing, I’m sure.”

The man nodded. “I never thought I’d say this, but Viggo is right. No offence.”

“None taken.”

Hiccup grimaced, wrinkling his nose up the way his mother used to. “Okay, well, there’s that…but most people call me the Dragon Master anyway. I mean I don’t like it when they do that, but it’s still an impressive title. Do you really think the other chieftains are gonna argue when I’ve got Toothless with me?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be very intimidated… so long as you don’t tell them your dragons name” said Viggo. His dad chuckled a bit, and Hiccup rolled his eyes. “Your title isn’t what matters, but the authority behind it. _Legitimate_ authority” Viggo said pointedly. “Like it or not, ‘the dragon master’ is an empty title.”

“Aye, and you’d have to prove it. I don’t see you making Toothless do tricks.”

“Nor have him threaten the very people you’re trying to persuade to befriend dragons” Viggo added. “I suspect that would backfire on you, somehow.”

Hiccup sighed. Everything they were saying made sense, but… “What about all the other stuff? It’s not like I’m gonna be meeting chiefs all the time.” He looked at his father. “Dad, you’re a great chief…but you’re kinda _too_ good. Everyone’s gonna expect me to be like you and just solve all their problems for them.”

“Aye, probably” agreed Stoick, which wasn’t very encouraging. “But you’re _not_ like me, and what can they do about it?” he went on. “Nothing, that’s what. You don’t have to lead the way I do, son. The important thing is that you _can lead._ ”

Viggo remarked, “If your concern is having to deal with obstinate Vikings, then think of it as an opportunity to encourage more - what’s the word – initiative.” He’d been about to say ‘obedience’, but that was not how Hiccup would wish to lead. “You’ve already changed their minds about dragons, why stop with that?”

“Besides, you won’t be leading the same folks I did. You’d be leading your friends, Gustav, Fishleg’s niece and nephews, Erika, Torin, Hildegard…”

“She prefers Magnus” muttered Hiccup. He’d seen the girl bite someone over it.

Stoick slapped his palm on the table, making the other two jump. “ _That’s_ what being chief is about!” he declared, beaming. “Understanding your people, supporting them…the children of Berk look up to you, Hiccup. You have no idea how many times I’ve been asked when you’re coming home, when they can have their own dragons…or a ride on Toothless. Point is, you’re their hero, son.”

 _If you put it like that…_ Hiccup sighed. “I guess you have a point” he admitted reluctantly. “I just wish…there was so much I wanted to do. We still haven’t found more Night Furies, for one, but they must be out there somewhere. All the other dragons have their own kinds to be with, but Toothless has no-one.”

The black dragon rolled his eyes. “Toothless have Hiccup. Not need own-kind.”

“There you are, then” Stoick declared firmly. “If _he’s_ not bothered, why should you be? Aye, son, I know you have your heart set on finding another Fury. It’d be quite the sight, I’ll give you that” he acknowledged. “But one’s bound to turn up eventually. Will you at least think about becoming chief? You’re next in line anyway, and I’d like to know Berk will be in good hands after I’m gone” he said.

Hiccup didn’t like the idea of his father dying; no one did, he supposed; but it was an inevitable fact of life. “I’ll think about it, I promise” he replied. Then he suddenly realised – he couldn’t hear drumming on the roof. It wasn’t raining.

* * *

As usual when he had a lot on his mind, Hiccup went flying to clear his head, but the conversation still weighed on him. When Toothless landed on the cliffs, Hiccup dismounted and looked back towards the village. He tried to picture himself as chief of Berk. _Maybe I am being selfish. Maybe it won’t be that bad…_

He was still thinking when Stormfly landed on the cliffs. She jumped at Toothless once her rider climbed off. As their dragons played together, Astrid joined Hiccup and gave him a kiss. “You okay?” she asked, looking concerned.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine” he smiled at her, hoping she didn’t notice it was forced.

“That’s good. So, about the wedding – I was thinking next autumn could work.”

“Huh?” Hiccup blinked stupidly before realising, “Oh! Oh, you mean _our_ wedding. Yeah, sorry, I’m being dumb. Next autumn sounds perfect” he nodded. Then something occurred to him. “Y’know, I was thinking - once we’re married, our kids would be the heirs to the throne, right?” Astrid gave him an odd look, but nodded. “So it wouldn’t make a difference which of us was the chief first.” 

There was that look again. “I guess, but…Hiccup, you’re the heir. _You’re_ Stoick’s son, what would he say if someone else – even me – took the throne instead?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. Besides, it makes sense!” Hiccup insisted hopefully, telling her “you’re the perfect Viking, Astrid, everyone on Berk respects you” –

“They respect you, as well” she told him firmly. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

It was a nice sentiment, but Hiccup pressed on. “The point is, you would be a great chief of Berk; and since we’re getting married anyway it takes care of the whole ‘line of succession’ thing. You lead the Hooligans, I’ll lead the dragons.”

Astrid looked flattered and exasperated at the same time. “I know you. There’s something you’re not telling me” she declared, and sure enough, Hiccup shifted uncomfortably. “Is it about your talk with Viggo the other night?” Astrid pressed. She’d been wondering what the man said to him, what kind of advice he’d given. “Hiccup, did _he_ tell you that you shouldn’t become chief of Berk?”

To her relief, Hiccup shook his head. “No, no. He thinks I should be chief. Or at least start training for it” he explained. Then, with a defeated sigh, he told her all about the conversation the three of them had that morning. “I suppose they have a point, and maybe it won’t be that bad…but it just doesn’t feel right.”

Hiccup looked out at the horizon. “You know what my dad said, before we left? He told me to find whatever it was pulling on me, and Berk would be right here when I came back. I don’t think that pull is ever going to go away” he confessed.

With a tentative smile, Astrid reached over and placed her hand on his heart. “Hiccup…what you’re looking for, it isn’t out there, it’s in here” she told him. “I know you‘ll be an amazing chief; and you know you’ll always have me, right?”

That was true, and Hiccup gave her a grateful kiss. Shame he hadn’t been able to persuade her to take his place…but maybe she was right. Maybe he should begin to prepare for the future. After all, time stopped for no one. _I’ll do it,_ Hiccup decided. _I’ll start training to be chief. Besides…something might come up._

“The others are at the training ring” Astrid informed him. “We should go down.”

* * *

When they got to the training ring, the riders were there; but so was his dad. “There you are!” Stoick beamed at him. “I’ve got some good news for you, son.”

For a moment, Hiccup dared to hope he’d had second thoughts. “You have?”

“Aye. We were talking” – the chief nodded at Viggo – “about the, well, you know, earlier discussion…and we came up with a compromise” he explained.

“Indeed” said Viggo. “Unless, of course, you’ve changed your mind?” he asked.

 _Not anymore I haven’t._ “W-well, I, I want to hear your idea first” Hiccup replied.

Viggo raised an eyebrow. “Well, it seemed a shame to just abandon the Edge, after all the work you put in” he commented. “Then Stoick was telling me about your dragon academy, and I had an idea.” He paused, as if for dramatic effect.

Hiccup knew better, though. “You think we should move the academy to the Edge, and turn it into a dragon riding school” he guessed without thinking; it wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. He just wished he’d thought of it first.

“Precisely.” Viggo’s face was impassive, but his good eye gleamed with pride.

Tuffnut, of course, said “Uh, but don’t we already know how to ride dragons?”

“Yes, which means we can teach other people” Hiccup replied, excitement rising. “Not just from Berk, but other tribes as well, all over the archipelago!”

It was like a dream come true. Then his dad spoke, and reality came crashing back. “Hold it. You haven’t heard the other side of the agreement yet” Stoick reminded them. He looked his son in the eye. “Here’s the compromise. You spend the winter here on Berk, preparing to take over from me…then in summer, you can be in charge on the Edge, until you’re ready to be chief.” 

Considering that his dad’s usual idea of a compromise was to hand both arguing people weapons and let them duke it out, Hiccup knew that Viggo must have made a very convincing case. He also knew that arguing more would be really immature and ungrateful. They could figure out the details as they went. “I understand” he said calmly. “It’s a deal.” He held out his hand to shake on it.

Stoick almost gaped at him. “You – you agree?” he asked, stunned. Clearly he’d been expecting Hiccup to refuse and stubbornly insist on more conditions first.

“ _Well_ …” – yep, there it was. “You’re not gonna give me chiefing lessons all the time, are you?” Hiccup checked. “I mean, I do want to spend time with you, but y’know…I’ve got my own stuff going on…” his gaze flickered over towards Astrid.

Eyebrows raised, Stoick replied “Oh, aye. I’ll bet. Alright, you can have Washday and Sunni’s Day off to do whatever you like” he offered. That was fair enough.

“And Frigga’s Day?”

“Don’t push it.”

They shook hands, both trying to look serious and failing. Astrid came over and Hiccup slipped an arm around her waist. “By the way, we were thinking of having the wedding next autumn” he mentioned casually; and regretted it a moment later, when his dad scooped them both into a crushing hug. “Dad! Air!”

Stoick put them down again and they gasped for breath. “Sorry. I’m just so thrilled!” he beamed, dropping his hands onto Hiccup’s shoulders. “Look at you, all grown up…betrothed, the Hero and future Chief of Berk…ah, I couldn’t be more proud of you, son.” His eyes looked rather misty all of a sudden. “I’ll be off then. I’ll let Gothi know when the ceremonial mead has to be ready for, shall I?”

The chief strolled out of the training ring, whistling, and mounted Skullcrusher again. Hiccup had never seen his dad in such a good mood. His own mood improved even more when Astrid pulled him into a passionate kiss. They were interrupted far too soon, in his opinion, by a high pitched chorus of “Eww!”

What looked like every kid on Berk had come into the ring, led by Brenda. They went straight to Hiccup and she announced, “We wanna ride on Toothless. _You_ said we could have a ride later, and that was two days ago! It’s later. We want Toothless!” she cried, and the others took up the chant. “We want Toothless!”

Before he could stop them, the kids had slipped past Hiccup and Astrid to crowd around the Night Fury instead. Toothless wasn’t keen on children, especially when they started trying to clamber all over him. He reared up to stop them getting on his back and gave his rider a look that clearly meant _do something!_

“Quiet!” Hiccup snapped. To his amazement, the kids went silent, staring at him. “Look, you can’t just jump on Toothless like that” he scolded. “You could get hurt. Besides, how would you guys like it if someone came along and started poking you, pulling your ears and climbing on top of you?” he asked rhetorically.

Most of the youngsters shrugged. “I’d punch them!” one boy said cheerfully.

Suppressing a sigh, and ignoring the muffled giggles behind him, Hiccup explained “Well, Toothless doesn’t like it when you do that. Most dragons don’t, actually. Our dragons tolerate it because they know you’re not trying to hurt them, but you must _never_ run up to a wild dragon like that, understand?”

He must have looked serious, because the children all moved away from Toothless immediately. The dragon relaxed once they were no longer in his personal space. “That’s better” Hiccup said in relief. “Okay, I did promise you a ride…but you can’t all go at once. You’ll have to take turns” he informed them.

“Erika wants to go first” declared Brenda with a smirk, pushing a little girl with light brown hair forwards. She looked up at Hiccup and squeaked, eyes wide.

“Oh, hi Erika” Hiccup smiled kindly. “Uh, are you okay?” he asked in concern. The only reply was another squeak, and she turned scarlet. Erika had a bit of a puppy-love crush on him, and judging by the sniggers, his friends thought this was hilarious. He glared at them over his shoulder and then knelt down to talk to the little girl. “Erika, would you like to have a ride on Toothless with me?”

This time the squeak was accompanied by a timid nod. He showed her how to approach Toothless gently, who crooned and let her stroke his nose. Children got on his nerves sometimes but he’d never harm them. A brown haired little boy boldly approached Viggo and Moonlight. “Can I ride on your Skrill, mister?”

Brant all but tackled him. “No fair, _I_ wanna ride on the Skrill! I saw her first!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

A sharp whistle got their attention. “Now, boys, there’s no need to fight” Viggo insisted. “The fact is, Brant _did_ see Moonlight first. He saw her in the Hall when we first met, whereas I don’t believe I know your name” he told the other child.

“I’m Torin. Erika’s my sister. Please can I have a ride on your – on Moonlight?”

Viggo chuckled. “Well, if it’s okay with you” he said to his dragon; she warbled agreeably. Astrid offered to take Brenda up, whilst Brant and Shrug went with the twins. Snotlout then claimed that Hookfang was too cool to give rides to little kids, but one of them – Nosehair, his own cousin – had already climbed onto Hookfang’s neck, and the Nightmare didn’t seem bothered by this at all.

Giving the children rides was more fun than they expected, and Hiccup began to feel a bit more confident about this whole ‘being chief’ thing. It might not be so bad, really, if he would one day be leading a whole tribe full of dragon riders.

* * *

The riders went back to the Edge and cleared out their huts, packing away all their belongings and eating any perishable food. The boars were released from the pit; Tuffnut spent half an hour trying to get Chicken and her feathered family into a carry crate. “I am _not_ leaving them behind” he insisted stubbornly.

Soon there was only one more thing to take care of. All six dragons hovered in a circle above the volcano, with the magma far below. Hookfang had the chest full of Johann’s lenses clutched in his talons, whilst Barf&Belch were holding the sack containing their lenses. Hiccup and Viggo were carrying either Dragon Eye.

Viggo turned the device over in his hands. “Never thought I’d be dropping this back into the volcano” he sighed. “My ancestors’ll be turning in their graves.”

“It’s for the best” announced Hiccup, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as well. “The Eyes are great sources of knowledge, but in the wrong hands they can, and have, done so much harm to so many dragons. Fishlegs, are you _certain_ you have all the information we need from them?” he questioned.

“I’m positive. It’s all in my saddlebags, ready to take back to Berk” said Fishlegs.

Snotlout asked “Hang on, you just said the knowledge is dangerous, why are you letting Fishlegs keep all the notes he copied? We oughta burn them as well.”

This suggestion was met with a scandalised gasp from Fishlegs, who looked horrified at the very suggestion. Hiccup calmly replied, “I said the knowledge would be dangerous _in the wrong hands._ Besides, it’s only so we can put everything in a revised copy of the Book of Dragons, and then he’ll destroy the notes. Right, Fishlegs?” he asked pointedly. The other man nodded reluctantly.

Hiccup looked down at the Dragon Eye II. He’d worked hard to make this, but it was a necessary sacrifice. “We’ll let go on the count of three. One…two…three!” The Eyes and lenses were thrown or dropped, and tumbled down towards the lava. They all watched the small explosions as first the chest, then the sack, then both cylinders were engulfed by the molten rock. “Well then. That’s that.”

“Why does everything feel so anti-climactic?” Ruffnut wondered. “Hey, Fishlegs. If you end up writing an epic poem about this, can you spice it up a little?”

“I’ll write one!” Tuffnut volunteered, “and embellish it greatly. First I need to know all the details, so I can decide which ones to throw out and which to improve. For starters, we had to get through multiple booby traps to rescue our cousin, and Ruffnut almost died tragically; but sadly – I mean luckily – survived.”

The twins started bickering; everyone else tuned the pair out, and went back to collect their saddlebags. It felt strange to leave the Edge this time, practically abandoned; but they’d be back. After one last farewell to the Night Terrors, they headed towards home. “Last one back to Berk is a pile of yak dung!” cried Snotlout, trying to goad them into a race. Hookfang flamed up instead. “Argh!”

Everyone laughed, and Hiccup took one more fond glance back at the Edge. He couldn’t wait to return and set up a school of dragon riding here next summer.

* * *

_This is Berk. It’s freezing in winter and cold in summer, but that’s not been a problem for years now. After all, who needs fireplaces when you have dragons?_

_One day, hopefully, we’ll meet the King of Dragons. Viggo reckons it might be a Bewilderbeast, but he’s never seen one in person. He thought they were a myth._

_Speaking of Viggo, we built him and Moonlight a home up on the cliffs. Skrills are more solitary so she’s more comfortable out of the way of the village and the other dragons. Viggo is now the chief’s adviser. My dads, and then mine._

_We went to Dagur and Mala’s wedding. Those lovebirds seem like they’ll be happy together…and they’re not the only ones. Astrid and I plan to get married the following autumn. I can’t believe that this time next year she’ll be my wife!_

_Life out on the Edge was remote, dangerous, and amazing. We’ve met so many incredible dragons, and the hunters are finally leaving them in peace. It’s been a wild ride, the last few years. My friends and I are older, stronger, braver and – in some cases – wiser. No matter what happens, we are ready for anything and anyone. We are ready to fight for our dragons, and they are ready to fight for us._


End file.
